The Long Way Home
by Cehsja
Summary: "Danny, I wanna go with you," Sarah had protested before he stepped through the anomaly at the end of season 3. In this Alternate Timeline he lets her, and they are trapped on the other side: together.
1. Following Helen

**A/N: This story is most definitely AU. It is based upon Danny's time in the past, but in this Alternate Universe he gives in when Sarah asks to go with him and a few things change. The first chapter is similar to Ep 3.10, but with differences due to the AU. After that it's a story to fill-in the gap between 3.10 and 4.1. This is not a new story, I'm just editing and reposting it as the majority of it went up before Fanfiction allowed scene separation lines and to get rid of some typos and fix a few things. I hope you Enjoy! Please read and review! Chapters should be uploaded approx. 1/day but I might miss a day or do two on some. We'll see.**

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><p>As Team Leader, the hardest decisions usually fell upon Danny Quinn. He knew that there were many times when at least one or two of the others didn't agree with his decisions, but they obeyed him regardless and he appreciated that. He let them have their say of course, heard their opinion, but in the end it was his choice and he was thankful that he had a loyal team to back him up, especially at times like this when he really didn't know what to do himself.<p>

Helen had gone through an anomaly and she was up to no good. Of that much, Danny was sure. She'd taken Christine Johnson with her, and then left Christine to the raptors. What purpose Helen could possibly have had for killing Christine was beyond Danny, but he wasn't sure he wanted to understand what went on in that brain of hers so he delve into it for too long. What mattered to him was where Helen'd gone.

It had been easy to decide that they should follow her; they had to, whatever she was up to it was big. It wasn't until the second anomaly had opened up that he'd had to make the tough call. Should they follow her, or go back to the anomaly at Christine's headquarters? He hadn't the foggiest which choice might lead them closest to Helen.

They'd have to split up. He told Abby and Connor to come with him. He'd probably need Connor's skills and he knew that the pair wouldn't be separated. He sent Becker back the headquarters. He felt in his heart that Becker's route would be the safer, so he ordered Sarah to go with him.

"Danny, I wanna go with you," she protested, facing him. He hesitated when he saw the pleading look in her eyes. To be perfectly honest, he did rather like the idea of keeping her close and he was touched at her words but…

Becker shuffled a bit to get Danny's attention and when Danny met his eyes, Becker spoke, "Danny, I've got backup on standby; they can meet me at the headquarters. I won't need help."

"Who's going to lock _this_ anomaly behind us?"

"One of the guards can do it," Sarah said, "Danny, please."

Danny knew he'd give into her eventually and they were wasting time while he made up his mind so he might as well do so now. He nodded as he turned to face the anomaly. Sarah was at his side in an instant and Danny was surprised to feel her hand slip into his. She was nervous, he realised. She had begged for this and now she was nervous about it. But then again, so was he. He squeezed her hand reassuringly as he gave a few last minute orders to Becker and the security guards and then, with Sarah on his left and Abby and Connor on his right, he stepped through the anomaly.

Sarah leaned a bit closer to Danny and whispered, "I feel like there should be some dramatic music playing or something…"

"You watch too many films," Danny laughed, but as he looked around at the harsh and desolate surroundings of their future, he agreed with her. The way they had so simply stepped from one time to another felt surreal, as though he were watching himself in a movie rather than actually being here. It was his second time entering this world that he wished he'd never seen the first time. The way that everything had faded in the sun and been covered by dirt from lack of tending made it feel as if even colour itself had died in this dreary place.

"Shhhh!" Abby whispered harshly, holding a finger to her lips and one out to Danny, "Did you hear something?"

Danny shook his head, "No, nothing."

"I swear I did," Abby said.

"What kind of something?" Connor asked her before adding, "We need to be quiet; there are probably future predators around here."

A shiver ran up Sarah's spine at the mention. She hadn't actually _seen_ one of these predators in person before, and she'd be quite content if she never did.

Abby turned to Connor, "I don't think it was a predator, sounded like footsteps, someone running. Helen?"

"Which way?" Danny whispered to her.

"I'm not sure, it almost sounded… well I know this will sound crazy, but it sounded like it was underground. I only heard it for a moment and then it was gone."

"Right," Sarah spoke, sounding braver than she felt. "So let's look for a hole, or stairway, or anything that will take us to a lower level, yeah?" She dropped Danny's hand and moved forward carefully. The rest followed, spreading out a bit as they searched but not getting too far from each other either.

"Guys, there's some stairs over here!" Connor called out suddenly and then winced at the sound of his own voice in the silence.

"Shhh!" the others all warned at once, but they headed over to where he was. He had opened the door to an abandoned building, all the buildings were abandoned, and found a staircase leading underground.

Danny went first, Sarah close behind him followed by Connor and then Abby. They were only about halfway down the stairs when they heard a loud metal clanging sound. The four of them froze in placing, daring not even to breathe. Danny felt Sarah's hand clutch the back of his shirt and he was grateful for the contact. There were a couple more clanging sounds and then a few footsteps. Connor breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not a predator," he whispered.

"Right," Danny whispered back, "Then we continue." He stepped forward again, frowning a bit as he felt Sarah let go of him, though he knew she couldn't see that. A moment later he could see Helen in front of him and he paused as he watched her do something with the artefact and a posh looking machine.

Danny gestured for Connor to quietly step forward and whispered to him under his breath, "Watch what she's doing, might be important."

Connor nodded and watched intently, focused more on the machine than on Helen herself. Suddenly, as Helen inserted the artefact into the machine, a whirl of lights appeared. Connor gasped and turned to Sarah, "It's the map again!" he told her quietly. "She's saving it onto the device she opened the anomaly with at the campsite!"

Helen froze in front of them, suddenly realising that she wasn't alone, and Connor winced as she called out, "Come out of the dark, Connor."

Connor stepped forward reluctantly, there was no point in hiding now.

"You too, Danny, Abby," Helen called out. They both joined Connor in stepping towards her.

Danny was glad to see that Sarah stayed back. Helen didn't seem to know that she was there yet and he hoped they could keep it like that. The less Helen knew the better.

He walked toward Helen, holding out a gun. To his surprise, Helen stepped towards it instead of away. He froze in his surprise, unsure of what she was doing. It was a mistake; suddenly a jolt of electricity flowed through his body and he fell to the ground, literally stunned. It took him a few moments to realise that she had tasered him.

Danny groaned as he tried to get up and found that his limbs were numb. He knew the effect would wear off soon enough, but for the moment he wasn't able to move them. Connor darted towards him to lend a hand, but Danny shook his head, "I'm fine, just deal with her."

Connor turned to Helen and made a leap to grab the artefact, but Helen was quicker than he. She laughed coldly and pushed it from his reach. "You want it?" she asked him calmly. "What for?"

Connor didn't answer her as he reached for it one more time and Abby grabbed ahold of Helen from behind, but Helen was quicker and more skilled than Abby expected and in an instant, she had been tasered too.

"Ow," she moaned as she fell to the floor by Danny. Connor abandoned his attempt to reach for the artefact as he knelt down by Abby with concern and Helen turned her attention to him once more. "You don't know what you're dealing with Connor. Go home. You're nothing but a boy trying to play in the men's league, and you're not wanted."

Connor chuckled as he retorted, "Well, I agree you're probably more manly than I am, Helen, but as for not being wanted, I bet there's more people here who want me on their team than you. Should we take a vote?"

Helen smiled secretively, "You'd be surprised how much _my _vote counts for, Connor."

"What are you doing here, Helen?" Danny asked her. "What are your trying to accomplish?"

Helen smiled again, "Oh, you'll like this: I, Helen Cutter, am going to save the world."

"Since when did you care about your fellow humans?" Abby asked her.

"It's not humanity I'm going to save." Helen replied. Then she turned back to the artefact and discovered it was gone. She frowned, "Alright, who took it?"

Abby, Connor and Danny remained silent and then Helen laughed, "Whatever, you can have it now. It's all yours. I've already got what I need and it won't do you much good without this." She suddenly pulled her taser out and shot the machine that she had stored all the information on with the artefact, turning the top of it into a melted electronic mess.

"No!" Connor cried out.

Helen grinned at him wickedly as she used her own gadget to open an anomaly in front of her. Danny frowned, they had to stop her and they had to get that gadget from her. He tested his legs and found he could stand again. Beside him, Abby did the same. They found they were alright.

"Don't let her go through," Danny warned and they ran towards it with Helen, making sure that she didn't get a head start. There was a bit of a tussle on the other side and Danny wasn't really sure what was happening for a moment. He saw that, thankfully, Sarah had abandoned her hiding spot and run through with them. The next thing he realised was that they were being attacked by a baby raptor; they seemed to have landed in a raptor's nest. It looked as though Helen had tasered the mother as it was laying beside them, but Helen was nowhere in sight.

"Where'd she go?" he asked Connor as he successfully knocked the baby out with a stick from the nest.

"Dunno," Connor sighed. "I think she's gotten a head start. She must have known this anomaly would end up in the raptor's nest and used the element of surprise to run off. We have to follow her, but…" he gestured towards Abby, and Danny suddenly saw that she was injured.

"I'm fine," Abby protested, but her leg was bleeding badly. "You guys go on ahead. I'll find my way home."

"Can't," Connor mumbled. "She closed the anomaly behind us."

"What?" Sarah gasped out. "But then we're stuck here! We can't get back!"

"We've gotta get that gadget she's got to open the anomalies," Danny muttered.

"I'm staying with Abby."

"Connor, _go_!" Abby protested.

He shook his head and Danny agreed with him. "We can't leave you here for the raptor when it wakes up; Connor you stay with her. Sarah, you're with me. Connor, listen, get yourself and Abby somewhere safe. Sarah and I will find you after we put a stop to whatever it is that Helen is up to. Capiche?"

Connor nodded and gestured to the east, "She went somewhere that-a-way."

"Got it." Danny stood and glanced at Connor and Abby one more time before taking off running with Sarah at his side.


	2. Choices

Danny and Sarah ran forward for quite awhile, worried that they must have missed Helen. As they reached the top of a large dirt embankment, Danny stopped suddenly and reached for Sarah's hand to help her up over the last few steep steps.

"Which way now?" She asked him, looking around.

Danny shrugged as he looked back over the view before him, which wasn't the greatest due to the tall trees everywhere. "I don't know. We need to look for a sign of her, footprints or something, I think. There's no point in guessing her direction."

"Look!" Sarah cried, suddenly pointing and dropping Danny's hand. Away below them something glittered as the sun bounced off it. Sarah held her hand over her eyes to block out the sun so that she could see it better and Danny did the same.

"I think… I think that's her device! The one for opening anomalies, is it not?"

Danny nodded, "Right, she must have dropped it, which means she went that way. Alright, back down we go."

He took a few steps forward when suddenly another light caught his eye coming from the other side of them and the opposite direction, this one flickering from its own radiance rather than the sun's reflection. He stopped again, "There's an anomaly."

Sarah turned and faced it, "Would she have gone through?"

"I don't know."

"She couldn't have, how would her device have ended up way down there?"

"She could have come that way up the cliff in the first place and lost it on the way. Or perhaps she dropped it and it fell down there. I don't know, Sarah, but it's possible, and we need to decide which route to take."

"We could split up."

"No," Danny responded, glad to have a decision to make that he was 100% sure of. "Too dangerous. I'm not leaving you."

Sarah nodded and, despite the fact that she'd suggested it, he could see she was relieved and she didn't press the issue. Finally Danny sighed, "Let's take the anomaly."

Sarah nodded and followed him towards it, it wasn't far from them. "Danny?" she asked quietly, "It doesn't matter to me what you choose, I'd follow you either way, but I'm curious what made you choose this way."

"For one, it makes more sense to me that she'd have come this way as there doesn't seem to be much she can do_ here_ to save the world, or whatever it is she's planning, and secondly, Connor and Abby are down there somewhere, so hopefully Connor will have Abby's leg bandaged by now and perhaps if Helen_ is_ still on this side,_ they_ can find her. Best to have people on both sides of the anomaly."

"Good thinking," Sarah replied and then stopped suddenly just before the anomaly, "Danny, what's that?"

Danny knelt down in the dirt a few inches from where they were standing and picked up the plastic tube, "It's plastic, that don't seem right in this time period, do it? Helen must have dropped it as well."

"She was wearing it around her neck before and look: there are footprints here, some sort of dinosaur. Do you think something got her?"

Danny looked at the ground; it did appear there had been some sort of struggle. "One can only hope," he muttered and received a elbow in his side from Sarah, despite the fact that she had to agree with him.

"So do we follow this trail?"

Danny shook his head, "No, she might have gotten away. If she didn't, if the dinosaur killed her, than good, but there's nothing we can do either way except walk into a dino den and be killed ourselves, right? If she_ did_ get away, then she probably still ran through the anomaly. We take our chances."

He held out his hand to Sarah and she took it as they stepped through the anomaly together.

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><p>Immediately they found themselves tumbling down the edge of a large, but fortunately notntoo steep cliff. Sarah screamed as Danny did his best to catch hold of a tree to stop their fall, but the trees here were very few and far between. The suddenly came to rest in a tangled heap in a pile of dry dirt and grass at the bottom.<p>

"Oof," Danny said and turned to Sarah, "Are you okay?"

Sarah nodded as she tried to push herself up and off him, but then she collapsed back down for a second.

"Sarah?" Danny questioned again, gently.

"I'm fine, really," Sarah apologized, succeeding to get up on her second attempt. "Any sign of her?" She tried to casually brush the dust from her outfit.

Danny stood up beside her and looked around them. "I don't think so, but perhaps she didn't fall so far. She could have caught herself quicker if she knew the cliff was here."

He peered back up at the now distant anomaly, sheltering his eyes with his hand from the sun. He stared for awhile and then dropped his hand down again.

"Anything?" Sarah asked.

Danny shook his head, "No, nothing that I can see. So what now? Do we keep searching or go back?"

Sarah sat down on a large rock and sighed, "I dunno, Danny. It's your job to make the tough calls."

"Still," Danny protested, "I value your opinion." He turned in a slow circle, looking at everything while he weighed their options. After a few moments of silence he noticed that everything wasn't quite as quiet as he'd first thought. He could hear the distant roar of water up ahead and he thought it would probably be a large river. It seemed to come from their left, which was really the only direction that the landscape allowed them to travel in, other than back up the cliff. They were wasting time here doing nothing, so he turned to Sarah.

"We go on. Let's find the river I can hear and see if there's any sign of her before then. I don't see that she could have gotten much further than that by now. If we can't find her before the water, we'll go back."

Sarah nodded and stood up slowly; Danny noticed she winced a bit and he was at her side in a moment, "Sarah, are you _sure_ you're okay?"

She nodded again, but avoided looking at him. "I'm fine, just a couple bruises I'm sure. Just need to shake it off a bit. Let's go." She returned her gaze to his face and smiled.

Danny knew that she'd hurt herself in the fall, but he let it slide. It was more important that they find Helen as soon as possible. "Alright," he agreed, "But I want you to see a medic as soon as we get back."

Sarah wanted to point out that they may not be able to get back, since Helen had closed the anomaly linking the future to the cretaceous, but she bit her tongue. There was no point in worrying about it just yet and at least they knew where Helen'd dropped her opening device in the cretaceous. There was still a chance that she or Connor could figure out how that thing worked. With that idea in mind, she cleared all depressing thoughts from her mind and focused on the task ahead.

It wasn't easy making their way down to the river. There were too many steep rocks to climb over and the ground was extremely uneven. Danny offered her his hand a few times in order to aid her over some of the hardest places. They watched for any signs of Helen in the area, but the land was hard to read and they found no traces of her.

Soon enough they reached the river. It cut across their path and moved around the bend, rushing directly against the side of the U-shaped cliff they had come down from. Sarah and Danny glanced at each other silently, each reading each other's single thought. There was no way that Helen had come past here yet. The river was too deep and fast and Helen wouldn't have been able to cross it here.

"So, we head back," Danny spoke. "She's either managed to not fall off that cliff and came down on the other side somewhere, or she never came through the anomaly in the first place. It's very possible that a dinosaur got to her before we did."

"Even if she got away from the dinosaur," Sarah countered, "We could have passed her technically, in which case she still could come down the anomaly."

"Right, we'd better hurry," Danny turned and began to run back the way they'd come. Sarah followed behind him as close as she could. It wasn't until he reached the spot where they'd landed after their fall that he froze in his tracks. The way back would be a long uphill climb with many stops to grab their footing, they'd never make it.

"Sarah," he whispered and she heard the sudden nervous change in his tone of voice.

She looked up, her eyes following his, expecting to see Helen. Instead, she gasped as her eyes caught a glimpse of their anomaly pulsing just before it disappeared altogether.


	3. Lost

"Noooo!" Danny shouted as he watched the anomaly close. Reflexively, he kicked a rock, stubbed his toe, and fell to the ground on his knees.

Beside him Sarah put her hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort, but he felt her hand trembling and it made him feel worse instead of better. Sarah should_ not_ have been stuck in this situation in the first place; he should've insisted that she stay with Becker. Now she was stuck and it was his fault. He knew that he should return the gesture, that he should give her a hug and tell her it was okay, but it wasn't okay and he felt too guilty and too angry to even look at her: angry at himself for caving into her pleading back at the race track. He shrugged her hand away from him, wanting to wallow in his own self-pity, and stormed forward, up the cliff and toward the place where the anomaly had been.

"Danny?" He heard Sarah call after him. She sounded puzzled over his behaviour, but he wasn't in the mood to let her break through to him just yet. He ignored her and carried on, but he did glance back once to make sure that she was following. She was, at a distance. She seemed to sense that he needed some alone time to cool down. Even as he walked and sulked he knew that before the day was done he'd have to apologize for his attitude and explain that he'd never been mad at her, but for the moment he would stubbornly ignore her. At least she knew enough to keep her distance.

It took nearly half an hour to climb back up the cliff that they'd fallen down in less than a minute, mostly due to having to weave back and forth to find a proper way up. When he got to the top and stood where the anomaly had been just a short time ago he looked around, trying to determine if there was any sign that Helen had come through, but he found nothing. He peered over the cliff, and saw nothing below them either, other than Sarah who was still making her way up to where he was. As she climbed over the last steep bit he reached for her hand to help pull her up, but then he immediately dropped it again and turned to look behind them in the other direction, still without speaking to her. Sarah thanked him and he pretended he didn't hear.

They seemed to be standing on a somewhat narrow ridge that dropped off again on the other side. He saw nothing but rocks and a bit of grass here and there on either side. The river ran around on both sides but it didn't cut off the cliff on the far side so that if Helen had gone that way, she'd have been able to get a lot further. He had a feeling she'd never been here though, that she hadn't come through at all. It'd been stupid to go through when they'd found signs of her presence on the other side. Then again, if they'd followed those signs they could've been Raptor Brunch by now for all he knew.

Well, it was too late to go back and now he knew that another decision rested upon his shoulders. Should they stay here and hope that the anomaly would open back up? Should they carry on? They could descend down into the far valley and see what they could find or they could carry on along the top of the ridge for what looked to be a few miles anyway. He'd have asked Sarah what she preferred if he'd been talking to her, and he knew that it was stupid not too, but he kept his mouth shut.

Even if the anomaly did re-open, they would still be stuck in the past. They may find Connor and Abby and perhaps Helen on the other side, but they'd also find dinosaurs. So far they hadn't seen any here. For that matter, there didn't seem to be much in the way of life signs at all so far. Still, the chance of the anomaly reappearing were somewhat slim and they had to find shelter or something for the night if they were going to stick around. The sun was hot and he thought they'd be better off down in the valley to protect their skin. So forward it was. He peered down into the distance, trying to see which way would be the best to go, and saw that many miles to the right there lay a forest. Good, they might find something they could eat down there and the river curved around and seemed to run through it, so they'd have water too.

Danny stepped forward and started making his way very carefully and slowly down the steep hill. Behind him, Sarah stood up from the rock she'd sat down upon when he'd stopped and followed him. A couple times he felt her start to slide on the loose shale and grab onto the back of his shirt for balance, but they both managed to reach the bottom of the slope without getting hurt and when they did, Danny sped up and walked ahead of Sarah, re-establishing the distance they had had between them earlier.

He made for the distant forest, cutting straight across the land even though that meant walking in the hot sun and away from the river water for a bit. He was thirsty and sweating and could do with a drink, but he didn't want to stop. The forest was many miles away and he wanted to be sure they'd reach it that day so they could take shelter in it at night. He glanced at his watch and saw that it would only be one'o'clock in the afternoon back at home, but it seemed to be much later here; the sun was so far in the west and it was already starting to get lower in the sky. Danny sighed as he thought that back at home he'd probably be just coming back to the ARC right now after his lunch break with a cup of coffee in his hand. He supposed there wasn't much chance that he'd find a coffee shop here anytime soon. He wondered vaguely if they were in the past or the future and how far into either they could be.

He continued on for a few more hours, thinking about all the things he'd be doing at home, when he realised that it was quiet: too quiet. Since they'd been here there'd been no sound but themselves and the rushing of the river, but now he was far away from the river and could no longer hear it. He wasn't too concerned about that, he'd seen that it would loop around and join the forest where he was heading soon enough. What did bother him was the sudden lack of sound coming from Sarah's footsteps behind him. He whirled around looking for her and found that she was nowhere too be seen. Danny cursed himself under his breath and then called her name loudly and stood listening.

There was no answer and Danny felt a sudden wave of panic fill him. Where on earth could she have gotten to? He should have heard something if anything had happened to her, shouldn't he have?

"Sarah!" Danny called over and over again, turning and running back the way he had come, looking for any sign of her.

He ran until he was out of breath and then started walking instead, but there was still no reply. He walked and called until his voice was hoarse and then he walked and wiped away the tears that had sprung to his eyes at the unbidden thought that he may have lost her. He continued in this matter until suddenly he realised that the sobbing sound he heard wasn't coming from himself. He let out a relieved breath and ran forward towards the large rock that he found hersitting against, cowering in the shade of the far side and trying to protect her skin.

Danny knelt down beside her, drawing her into his arms as Sarah flung her arms around his neck in relief. "You came back for me," she whispered, almost in disbelief.

Danny pulled away just enough to stare at her, "Sarah, of course I came back for you. You think I wouldn't look for you?"

"It's not that," Sarah whispered, wiping her tears, "I thought you didn't notice. I thought you'd go too far to find me."

Danny sighed, shuffling himself so that he was sitting beside her in the shade with his back against the rock and his arm around her shoulders. "I almost didn't," he admitted guiltily. "I was so caught up in myself, Sarah. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have stopped searching though, Sarah. I did look for you, for hours."

Sarah nodded, and rested her head on his shoulder, "I waited for hours."

"Sarah, what happened? Why weren't you still following me?"

Sarah winced guiltily, though she had no reason to be. "I tried to call you, but you got too far to hear me. I tried to keep up, Danny, but my ankle, it's, I hurt it worse than I thought falling down that cliff I think. It got harder and harder to walk on it and you got further and further ahead."

Danny immediately moved around her and knelt in front of her. "Let me see it," he ordered.

Sarah hesitantly let him remove her trainer and sock and roll up the leg of her jeans. She winced when he touched it gently and Danny drew his hand back immediately.

"It's sprained badly I'd guess. It's pretty swollen, but I don't think you'd have made it this far if it were broken." He pulled off his backpack and drew the first aid kit out of it and then bandaged it up as tenderly as he could so he didn't hurt her more. Then he moved back to her side and pulled her back into his arms.

"Sarah," he said. "I'm sorry about how I've been acting today."

Sarah looked at him and shrugged a bit. "It's fine," she whispered, forgivingly, "but Danny, I don't know what I did. I don't know why you were so mad at me in the first place."

"I wasn't," Danny reassured her. "I never was and I knew that. I was angry with myself and I felt I deserved my own anger so I didn't want you trying to cheer me up."

Sarah chuckled a bit then, "At least your honest about it."

Danny smiled at her in the silly way he had when they'd first met, "Of course I am. Don't you remember this honest face of mine?" He pointed up at his chin.

Sarah laughed genuinely then and Danny was glad to see her happy. When she sobered herself a bit she asked him seriously, "But why were you angry at yourself? You know this isn't your fault, right? It's Helen's. If we weren't trapped here, we'd have been trapped on the other side."

"I think we had a better chance of getting home from the Cretaceous, Sarah," Danny admitted. "Her device was there at any rate; we should have grabbed that and taken it with us."

"And risked her slipping past us? Danny, we didn't know the situation and we did what we thought best. Besides, we don't know how to use the thing anyway. By not taking it, we may have given Connor and Abby a chance to find it and get themselves home."

Danny nodded, "Yeah, you're right, but I should've made you stay with Becker. I'm sorry, Sarah, _you_ at least could've been safe at home right now."

Sarah shook her head vehemently, "No, no. Danny, don't you even think that for a moment. I was the one who asked to come with you; it was my choice. Besides, I'd way rather be stuck here with you than at home worrying about you and not knowing what was happening. I'd have gone crazy! I wouldn't trade shoes with Becker for an instant. In fact, I wouldn't have been safe at home. When you didn't come back on time I'd have set out through the anomaly myself, with or without Becker's help, and I'd probably be searching through the horrific future world on my own, if I wasn't killed by a a predator trying to find you."

Danny shuddered at the thought and held her a bit closer, "Then I'm glad you're with me, Sarah Page. Anyway, I imagine it'd be pretty lonely here without you."

Sarah nodded, "Of course it would. You'd be talking to sticks before long."

Danny chuckled and then looked at her seriously. "Do you think you can walk on that?" he asked her. "It's getting dark; we have to find some proper shelter. I'll help you."

Sarah nodded and Danny helped her to her feet. She looked at him, "Where to?"

Danny shrugged, "We'll never make it to the forest now."

"No, but I think I can make it back to the side of the cliff, there were a couple caves there."

"Were there? I didn't notice. Alright then, let's go," he replied. This time he kept his arm around her as she limped, and they made their way back together.


	4. Home Sweet Home

Danny crawled into the small cave they found first, ordering Sarah to wait outside while he check it out and made sure it was safe. It took him less than a minute before he called to her and she ducked inside the low opening herself. It was quite small, but there was enough room for them both to sleep comfortably, or at least as comfortably as one could sleep on hard rock. It was quite dark out and Sarah sat against one of the walls as she watched Danny fumble around in his backpack. They were both silent again, but it was a comfortable silence rather than an angry one.

After a few minutes, Danny sighed and dumped the contents of the bag out into a corner.

"What are you looking for?" Sarah asked him.

"Anything soft that you can use as a pillow," Danny replied, "but I've got nothing so I thought I'd roll up the backpack itself.

Sarah removed her brown leather jacket and handed it to him, "Will that help?"

Danny hesitated before taking it, "Won't you be cold?"

Sarah shook her head. "I'd rather be a bit cold than sleep against the hard stone. It's not too bad in here anyway; the cave seems to be keeping the chill air out a bit."

Danny rolled up her coat and placed it in the backpack before handing it back to her. "Here," he said, "Lay down."

"What are you going to use?"

Danny shrugged, "I'll be fine. I've got a hard head."

Sarah handed the backpack back to him, "How about you use the pillow for your head, and I use your shoulder for mine?"

Danny chuckled and reached for her, settling himself down and pulling her into his arms, "Yeah." he admitted, "That works for me."

"I thought it might," Sarah grinned at him. "Besides, this way we can huddle together for warmth too."

"You're a genius, Sarah," Danny murmured, his eyes closing as he suddenly realised just how tired he really was. He wondered briefly if they should assign a watch, but he was too far gone to voice the idea and he had a feeling that neither of them would be able to stay awake. Anyway, it wasn't as if they'd seen anything in this time period that could hurt them. The last thing he was aware of before he finally drifted off was that Sarah was already sound asleep in his arms.

* * *

><p>Danny awoke slowly many hours later to a bright sun-ray streaming into their cave and bathing him in its warmth. He stared at it, puzzled for a moment, and then groaned as he remembered the events of the day before. He glanced down at Sarah who was still sleeping and lay still, not wanting to wake her. It wasn't as though they had to be anywhere anyway. Time was strange in this place, he decided: strange because it didn't matter. There was no reason to hurry anything. The only thing they had to do right now was to survive. No one would notice or care if they slept all morning. It was like they had all the time in the world to just walk, talk, sleep and eat. Danny wondered if they'd ever get back home. He decided to find a way of keeping track of the days they spent here. After all, he wouldn't want to miss a holiday, or Sarah's birthday, or anything.<p>

He felt Sarah stirring beside him and he gently pushed the hair from her face as she woke up.

"Danny?" she asked, puzzled, "Where are we?"

He didn't answer her, letting the memories come back to her on their own. Instead he whispered gently, "_Hey_, Beautiful. Good morning."

Sarah smiled, "You always_ were_ a flirt."

Danny threw his head back and laughed, "No reason to change now then, is there?"

She sat up, "Guess not. What do we do now?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. How's your ankle?"

Sarah tried it slowly and then winced. "It's not good."

Danny nodded, "Then we stay here until it's healed. Welcome to our home sweet home."

"What if the anomaly re-opens?"

"I'll keep checking. Should be able to see it from here if we just step outside and back up a few metres."

"Do you think it will?"

"Honestly," Danny asked, "No, but we can't give up, Sare."

"Even if it did," she reasoned, "It still wouldn't take us home. We'd have to wait for one to open up from the Cretaceous back to the future and then from there back to our own time, assuming the one at the race track has closed by the time we get anywhere near that far, and I'd prefer to be waiting here than with the predators."

"What are you saying, Sarah? That we shouldn't go back even if it does open?"

Sarah shook her head, "I'm not saying that at all, it's just, maybe if it doesn't open by the time I can walk again, we should just keep going. Rather than wait at this site, we can search out new anomalies. We'll just keep travelling through them until we find our own way home."

Danny nodded, "Yeah, yeah, you're probably right." Suddenly his face lit up, "Do you think we have the detector? Or was that in Connor's bag?"

He moved to the pile of items he had dumped into the corner the night before and pulled it out triumphantly, "Aha!"

Sarah's face lit up. "Now _that's_ good to have! But why didn't we hear it before when we found the anomaly here? Is it working?"

Danny shrugged, "Probably buried under too many other things in there, sound may have been muffled." He turned it over in his hands a couple times. "It looks like it's working, but there's no anomaly. We'd better make sure it's more accessible from now on."

Sarah nodded and watched as Danny started going through the other stuff to see what they had available. There was a stun grenade, a first aid kit, two cans of ravioli, three tins of spam, two filled water bottles, a knife, a compass, a lighter and a coil of rope.

"Not much to live on," Sarah commented.

Danny had been thinking the exact same thing, but he heard the sudden concern in Sarah's voice and pushed away the thought for her sake. He held out his arm to her and she moved closer, cuddling into his side. "Better than nothing. We'll be fine, Sarah," he reassured her. "It's not a lot of food and water, but it's enough to survive on for a little while and by that time your ankle should be well enough to walk on. There's certain to be something growing in the forest that we can eat as soon as you're well enough to head there and the river looked clean enough to drink from. We'll be fine. It's like camping, yeah?"

Sarah nodded and Danny gave her a quick kiss on the top of her ear. The sat like that for a moment, both trying to cling onto each others hope that they'd get home again. Finally Danny stood up, kissing the top of her head once more, and speaking, "Sarah, wait here. I won't be long, I'm just gonna see if I can find some kindling for a fire."

"You think we should use the lighter?" Sarah asked, "We don't want to waste it. It's not super cold out right now and it might be as the seasons change."

Danny hesitated, but then shrugged, "You're right and we might find food that needs cooking eventually, meat perhaps, but what we've got now is safe to eat cold. But I should still try to find some wood to stock up on it. I don't know if it snows here ever or what time of year it is now, but if we suddenly wake up in a blizzard one day we'll want the wood in here before hand."

"Danny, I can help."

"No, I won't go far, but you need to stay off that foot so that you're ready to move when we run out of food here, okay?"

Sarah nodded, not wanting to stay behind, but knowing that he was right. "Okay," she agreed.

He took her coat out of the backpack and handed it to her. "I might need the backpack to carry stuff in," he told her. "Back in a bit."

He ducked out of the cave and heard Sarah sigh behind him.

* * *

><p>Danny walked for a bit, picking up little pieces of wood and dried grass here and there and dropping it into the bag. He headed down towards the river and found that it wasn't too far if he veered left, that was good. He could fill up their water bottles at any time then. He kept his eyes open for other things that might be useful too. He found a plant with enormous leaves that he had never seen before and he picked a couple of the leaves to use as blankets for them, hoping they weren't poisonous. He also picked up some good size pieces of wood that he thought he'd try to carve into a few tools and weapons. Sarah might be able to help with that too and it would give them something to do.<p>

He was heading back when he came across some wild red flowers on a bush and he grinned, picking them to give to Sarah as well. Hopefully, they would cheer her up.

When he entered their cave again he found Sarah leaning against the wall looking utterly bored.

"Sarah," He said, poking his head through the entrance.

Her face lit up with a grin, "It's about time!"

"I wasn't gone long," he chuckled, "But I guess I didn't leave you with much to do. No matter, I've found a project for us now, _and _I brought you these." He held out the flowers to her as he sat down.

Sarah grinned. "Thanks Danny!" she exclaimed, "I love them!"

"I thought you would. Now, about the project…" Danny pulled the wood out of the backpack and reached for the knife in their pile of stuff, "Do you think you could make us some tools or weapons or something?"

Sarah grinned, "Yep, just leave it to me!"

"Good. You can work on that then and I think I'll go out one more time while you do and get a second backpack load full. By the way, I can easily fill up the water bottles again so if you're thirsty, don't worry about using the water up."

Sarah reached for one, "In that case, I'm parched."

Danny laughed and went to duck out of the cave once more when suddenly he heard a noise outside. It sounded like some type of bird call and Danny grinned widely, "There're birds here!" he announced.

"We don't have a gun for hunting," Sarah responded. "Birds won't be easy to catch."

"No matter, I'm just glad to hear something living in the area. We might get a few if we're lucky, but perhaps there's more around here than birds. I'll might see if I can't spot any fish as well."

"Danny?"

"Yep?"

"If you find any more flowers could you get them for me? I might try to make this place look a bit more cheerful."

"Sure thing, Sare. See you in a bit."

* * *

><p>He was gone for longer the second time, most of the afternoon in fact and Sarah had started to worry, but when he returned he had caught three fish with his bare hands, and had used a sharp stick to cut them and clean them so that he didn't have to do that in their little abode away from home. He'd also picked a bouquet of all different types of flowers and he had one more surprise for Sarah too.<p>

"Blackberries!" she exclaimed as he handed them to her proudly.

"Found them by the river. If the seasons here are anything like at home, it's probably late summer, early autumn now for them to be ripe."

"Were there more?"

"Loads more, but my hands were full of fish and the backpack filled with flowers so I only picked what I could carry in my pocket. Maybe we can make a bowl or something out of something tomorrow. There's enough for now though. I'm going to light a fire, Sarah. We _should_ really cook the fish."

Sarah nodded her agreement. "We should find another way to start a fire though, without the lighter, at some point."

Danny nodded, "Yeah, I'll spend tomorrow trying to figure that out too, too hungry now."

Sarah put down her wood carvings with a smile, "You start the fire and I'll cook the dinner?"

"Deal."


	5. Stray Pup

**A/N Before the critics get to me, just another reminder that this is AU. Sarah was never with Danny in the past in the show... so if other events haven't happened exactly as they were in the show either it's okay :)**

The next few weeks passed nearly in the same way as their first day. Danny would go fishing each day and pick as many blackberries as he could find and while Sarah worked on her wood carvings. Then he would bring her the fish and blackberries and she would cook them up while he went and gathered more supplies for their humble abode. He often asked her if there was anything particular she wanted him to find that day. She often asked for more of the giant leaves he could find by the river. She'd used the rope coil and managed to make a variety of things for them, including a flap door to keep the wind out. Each night seemed to be slightly cooler than the one before and Danny worried about the upcoming winter.

Sarah had discovered a way to smoke their fish in a hole in the ground and this was actually preserving it for quite a long time, so he stocked up a bit. They hadn't had to touch the spam or ravioli yet, and for that he was grateful. Although they longed for a change of diet, they knew that they should be saving it.

Sarah had also managed to make quite a few knives and trowels and the like. Once, after he'd come home three times in one afternoon with things for her, she'd created something new for him. She'd taken a couple of the large leaves and the rope and tied them all into a bag and placed it on a large tree branch so he could carry it over his shoulder. He felt like the small boy in an old picture book his mum had read him as a child, who used to carry his belongings over his shoulder in such a manner. He'd kissed her cheek gratefully. She'd made another Leaf Carrier, as she called it, for herself.

A few days later she'd also fashioned a bit of a sled using the rope and a bunch of wood so that if he found anything too heavy he could drag it back. It worked well and he was glad for it. They'd acquired quite a few supplies and it would help them move it all to the forest later, though with the fish and blackberries here he wasn't sure they'd need to move at all. Sarah had made little tiny rock and flower gardens along the floor in the back of the cave, just for decoration, and the gesture helped both of them to remain cheerful and feel as though things weren't all that bad.

Eventually her ankle had healed and then Sarah had joined Danny at the river and he'd shown her how to fish with the wooden spear she'd made him and how to clean the fish and where the blackberries were. After that, she'd begun to take care of the chore on her own and Danny had begun to wander further, looking for new things and foods. One day he'd told her that he was going to be gone all day. He wanted to check out the forest and see what was there. She'd urged him to be careful as he left and he'd promised that he would.

He'd returned to her with an extra special treat: salmon berries and mushrooms. Sarah had thrown her arms around him in thanks. They'd enjoyed them immensely.

"You know," Sarah said thoughtfully as she picked a few or the ripe pink berries off the branch of them he'd given her, "If we could find a bowl shaped rock somewhere to hold water in, I could make a stew or something. Or we could use the leaves of the salmon berries and blackberries to brew a nice hot berry flavoured tea."

Danny sighed at the thought of having a hot cup of tea again and promised he'd not give up the search until he found something they could use. "Technically," Sarah said, "We could use the tin cans if we ate the ravioli, but I don't think we should do that yet…"

Danny agreed, but after another week of not finding anything that would work, he'd caved in and they'd opened up the first can. They'd enjoyed the change of meal, it was a little something from home, and savoured it slowly. Sarah had made the delicious blend of tea right afterward. He spent the evening working on carving a piece of wood carefully, but when Sarah asked what he was making, he refused to tell her.

"You'll see," was all he said.

* * *

><p>The next day it was pouring rain and Sarah had insisted they both stay in. They had enough fish preserved to eat and she was worried about them getting sick if they got soaked. They spent the day figuring out how to create a fire with just dry wood so that they'd have the skill when their lighter ran out of fluid. It took them forever, nearly the entire day, but they did manage.<p>

"We should use this method whenever we have time," Sarah mused. "We could use the practice."

Danny nodded his agreement as they huddled together by the fire to keep warm. It was getting later when the rain finally started to ease up a bit. Danny moved to peek the flap of their cave and then gestured for Sarah to join him, "Sarah, come see this."

Sarah did so and then clapped her hands in delight at sight of the dark rainbow that had stretched itself across the sky from one end to another. "Danny, it's gorgeous!" she cried out.

Danny nodded, "Yeah, it really is."

* * *

><p>The next morning the weather had improved again and Danny went back to the forest to find some more mushrooms. He'd made it only two thirds of the way back to her when he found Sarah running toward him with all their belongings, the fish and everything, loaded up onto the sled she'd made.<p>

"Sarah, what is it? What are you doing?" He called out to her, rushing over. Before he even reached her though, he heard the strange noise emitting from the anomaly detector in her hand.

"Good! I found you!" she exclaimed. "It's back this way, not far."

Danny nodded and reached for the sled to help her pull it. They found the anomaly soon enough; it was close to the rock that Sarah had sheltered under the day she'd fallen behind.

"It's a different anomaly, it probably won't go home, Sarah, or even back to Connor and Abby."

"We have to try it."

He nodded and went through their stuff until he found the spear and stun grenade. "We'll have these out and ready, just in case," he told her. "What's our plan of action if we don't like the place it leads to? Do we stay and look for the next anomaly, following them to whatever end, or just come back here?"

Sarah shrugged, "I don't know. It's your call, Danny. I'll follow you whatever you decide."

Danny nodded and then took her hand and squeezed it, "Let's go through then; I'll make up my mind when we're there."

Sarah nodded and they stepped forward together.

* * *

><p>The first thing they noticed was the heat. They were standing on the top of a sand dune and Sarah had to gasp a bit for breath.<p>

"I-I think," Danny gasped out, "That we're in the Silurian…"

Sarah winced at the word. She'd read the reports about Nick and Stephen's last trip to Silurian and it was certainly quite high up on the list of places she never wanted to see. "Then tread lightly," she warned Danny. "I don't want any run-ins with the scorpions."

"Yep," Danny agreed. He walked as lightly as possible over to the rocks a few metres away and sat down at the top of one of them. Sarah did likewise.

"So," he said, looking out over the distance, "This place pretty much sucks."

"Yep," Sarah giggled a bit at his bluntness. "Do we stay?"

"What are the chances that we can survive here with what we've got?" Danny asked her.

"I dunno. Depends also on what we can find here. Cutter's experience doesn't give much hope, but Stephen had mentioned he thought there was shelter and perhaps vegetation due east of the desert…"

Danny sighed and then spoke hesitantly, as if unsure of the decision himself, "I-I think we should stay here. At least twice now anomalies have opened up from this time period right into our own and that's a good sign, yeah?"

Sarah nodded, "Okay. We stay."

"Sarah?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you said it's my decision, but it's not too late to change your mind. If you want to go back, we will."

"No, don't Danny. It's not a decision I want to make. We've decided so let's just forget about it, okay. There's no point in hanging out here, let's go East."

Danny nodded and they moved through the sand as gently as possible, going from one island of rocks to another. The sound coming from the detector stopped suddenly and they knew that somewhere behind them the anomaly had closed, but neither of them looked back. After a few hours or walking, Sarah began to feel a bit hopeless. The landscape did not seem to be changing at all as far as she could see.

"Danny, can we stop for a bit?"

Danny nodded and sat down on the rock they were on. So far they had seen no signs of the Scorpions, but they had seen a couple of groups of giant millipedes race by which confirmed his belief that this probably was the Silurian. He wondered what you'd call a group of millipedes: a school? A flock? He wondered if millipede tasted like chicken.

Breathing was laboured here, for sure, but not impossible. He thought they would be able to adapt to it, but for now his throat hurt and his head ached. They were trying to use their water sparingly, but it was hard. They'd have to find more soon.

Sarah rested her head against Danny's shoulder and Danny smiled. At least he had her. It would be so much worse without her. He took the wood carving he'd been working on earlier out of his pocket and started on it again. Beside him, Sarah closed her eyes to protect them from the blinding sun, content to pretend she was on a tropical beach somewhere instead of in the middle of the desert. Neither of them spoke.

Suddenly they heard a very unexpected sound coming from the distance: _Arf! Arf! Arf!_

They both jumped to their feet and looked out over the sand.

"It's a puppy!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly.

Danny stared at the little gold and white dog that was coming running toward them with a collar around its neck.

"That's…impossible." He stated, confusedly.

Sarah didn't seem to care whether it was possible or not as she scooped up the straggly looking dog into her arms and hugged it. "Hey, Girl," she cooed to her new found friend.

"_Helloooo?_ _Sarah?_ Impossible."

Sarah grinned at him, "And yet she's here, ain't she? Technically speaking, it should be impossible for _us_ to be here, shouldn't it?"

Danny pondered that for a moment and then his eyes lit up, "The little girl, Taylor, she lost her dog here. She told Nick and Stephen that, remember? They said that that's what she was doing on this side of the anomaly."

"Right," Sarah agreed, "Must be her. What was the dog's name?" She checked the collar for a tag, but if there'd been one before it was missing now.

"Can't remember," Danny responded. "Started with an S, maybe?"

"Scruffy? Scrappy?"

"Something like that, but I don't think it was either. It's not important is it?"

"Of course it is, she'll need a name."

"Sarah, you can't seriously be considering keeping her. We hardly have enough food for ourselves!" He protested, but the look she gave him made him realise that it was _exactly_ what she intended and he wasn't going to win this one.

"Danny, I can't just_ leave_ her here. Anyway, she comes from our world, yeah? She's a little bit of home."

Danny sighed and nodded, "Fine, alright, you can keep her under three conditions."

"Name them."

"You mean name _her, _because that would be condition numero uno. I get to choose her name."

"Okay," Sarah agreed. "What's it gonna be?"

"Molly. We'll call her Molly."

Sarah giggled and buried her face into the dog's fur, "Hello, Molly-Girl! It suits you, doesn't it?" She turned back to Danny, "Why Molly?"

Danny shrugged, "Like you just said, it suits her. Next condition: I'm not starving to death because of this dog, Sarah, and neither are you. We'll take care of her for as long as is possible, but if it comes to a life or death situation and we have to choose between our own life and Molly's… we choose ours."

"Okay," Sarah nodded again. "You're right. I promise. And the last condition?"

"No matter how attached you get, when we get back to our world we do the right thing and return her to the little girl who lost her."

Sarah nodded one more time, "Yeah, I wouldn't have it any other way, Danny. I wonder how long she's been lost here for?"

"Looks like she's been living alone here for a long time," Danny said, petting the dog's head. "She's skin and bones. Better give her some fish."

Sarah opened up her leaf carrier to fetch some for Molly as well as a piece for each her and Danny too. "I knew you cared," she said with a smirk.

Danny laughed as he gobbled down the fish and reached for a second piece. Sarah slapped his hand away, "We need to save it, Danny."

"It won't last long in this heat. It's just going to go bad and go to waste if we don't eat it."

Sarah sighed and let him have a second helping, taking one herself too. "We have to find more soon then."

"We will, Sarah," Danny promised her. "Somehow we will."


	6. The Comb

"C'mon," Danny said after they had rested for awhile. "We'd better keep on moving. This isn't the safest spot to spend the night."

Sarah nodded and put Molly down, calling her quietly as they stepped back out onto the sand again. Molly followed them eagerly. The day continued much as it had been doing before they found the dog. The walked quickly, quietly, and lightly from rock island to rock island. The sun was far in the west when they finally found their path blocked by about a dozen Silurian Scorpions, judging by the trails underground.

"Now what?" Danny asked as they stood on the rock, wondering what to do. He scratched Molly gently between the ears as she sat upon his lap.

Sarah shrugged, "There's gotta be away around them somehow. What if we head off right instead of cutting across and then try to loop back around?"

Danny nodded, "It's as good a plan as any, alright."

They stood again after another gulp of their dwindling water supply each, and continued forward the long way around. It was an hour later that they both started to notice that the rock islands were finally getting bigger and closer together and the distances they had to walk on the sand were fewer and farther in between. They felt a bit more cheerful at the change and Sarah hummed a made up tune under her breath. The downside about the rocks was that it was harder to pull the sled on them. They lay their Leaf Carriers on top of it and each took an end to carry it.

Finally they came to a place where the sand ended and the rock smoothed out into a flat gravel bed. They stopped walking and put down the sled. Molly immediately jumped on top of it and made a move for the fish. Sarah giggled as Danny grabbed up the Leaf Carrier filled with the meat again. Molly gave a little bark, but then curled up on top of the sled and looked as if she'd go to sleep herself.

Sarah darted forward suddenly. "Danny, look," she cried out.

Danny moved to her side to see her picking at a bunch of moss that was growing over a larger rock. She grinned at him. "Moss," she informed him smugly, "happens to be edible."

Danny grinned back at her, "Good find, Sarah. It also grows in damp environments, does it not?" He crouched down and put his hand to the ground. "It's wet! There's gotta be a source of water around here somewhere too."

"Maybe we can dig for it?" Sarah suggested.

"Perhaps, but I don't know how deep the gravel is before it turns into sand again and I don't want to be disturbing any scorpions. I think it's best if we search around a bit or at least move further from the sand before try any digging."

Sarah nodded and picked a bunch of the moss, throwing it onto the sled beside Molly, "You're right. I don't feel comfortable so close to the sand even if we aren't digging. Let's walk a bit further before we stop for the night."

* * *

><p>The further they got from the sand, the more moss they found and the more their spirits cheered. There wasn't any shelter anywhere that they could see, but now that they were away from the threat of the scorpions they weren't as concerned. Danny suddenly ran forward.<p>

"Sarah, look," he called her in much the same way that she had done earlier. Sarah moved to his side and grinned back at him when she saw the small tidal pool. She bent down and dipped her fingers in it, and then put them in her mouth.

"It's salt water," she said. "We can't drink it, but we can fill up our tin can and leave it in the sun until it evaporates. It'll leave us with salt and we can preserve our food a bit longer with it. We should collect as much as we can."

"And now you're thinking like a survivor," Danny smiled at her.

Sarah laughed, "Well we've been stranded for six weeks, I guess it's about time."

They kept going for awhile, finding more and more tidal pools. "We must be quite near the sea," Sarah concluded, "but it's hard to tell in the dim light. Maybe we should wait until morning now. Let's have some more fish and get to sleep."

Danny agreed and sat down. They each took a piece of fish and gave one to Molly as well. They were too tired to start a fire and try cooking the moss, so they left it for the time being. Sarah took one of the giant leaves and lay it out on the ground to protect them from the damp rocks and they lay on it, cuddling close to one another, with another leaf on top of them as a blanket. Molly immediately jumped on top of their legs and curled up again to sleep.

Suddenly Sarah sat straight up again, "Spratt!" she exclaimed.

Danny looked at her, "What?"

"Spratt, I've been trying to remember all day, the dog's name is Spratt."

Molly jumped up at the sound of her name and licked Sarah's face. Sarah giggled and wiped off the slobber. "See, she knows it."

Danny frowned, "I prefer Molly."

"Then call her Molly; I don't think she'll care. Or call her Molly-Spratt, if you like. She can have two names."

Danny laughed and tugged at Sarah to get her to lie back down in his arms again, "Okay, but I want to sleep, so you need to lie down and let Molly-Spratt calm down again. Good night, Sarah."

Sarah smiled and suddenly moved to kiss his cheek, "Goodnight Danny, thanks for letting me keep her."

Danny chuckled groggily, "It's fine Sarah; I kinda like the little critter meself."

* * *

><p>They woke up less than half an hour later to Molly-Spratt barking loudly and tugging at their feet. They both jumped up.<p>

"What is it, Girl?" Sarah asked.

Danny stood up and then looked horrified. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He berated himself. He turned to Sarah. "Grab up all our stuff quickly! How do you think the tidal pools got here? We're closer to the ocean than we thought."

Sarah caught his meaning and started picking everything up. The water was lapping only three or four feet away from their feet as they headed further inland as quickly as possible. When they found some dry land they sat down on a rock and Sarah burst out laughing.

Danny glanced at her, "What's so funny?"

"I don't know," she giggled. "It's just so obvious, I guess. So, rule #1, never sleep where the tide comes in, yeah?"

Danny nodded and picked Molly up and placed her in his lap. "Good Gal," he whispered to her. He turned to Sarah, "She saved us, you know. We could have drown if she hadn't woken us up. At any rate, we would have lost a lot of our belongings. I think perhaps she deserves an extra piece of fish."

Sarah nodded and gave it to the dog, even though they knew their supply was dwindling.

They'd been exhausted before and had barely gotten any sleep, but the surge of adrenaline from running from the incoming tide had given them a second wind and they sat talking for a bit while Danny worked on his secret wood project. Mostly they talked about Helen and Abby and Connor. They wondered if Abby and Connor had found the device and figured out how to get home yet, or if they were trapped just like they were.

After a bit, Danny turned to Sarah triumphantly and held out his piece of wood. "Done," he said, handing it up for her to see. Sarah gasped and threw her arms around his neck with delight when she saw that he had fashioned a wooden comb for her hair.

"Thank-you Danny!" she squealed. "These knots have been driving me crazy! How did you know?"

Danny just chuckled and moved to sit behind her. "Here, let me." He began to gently comb her hair out, trying not to pull as he worked at the tangles.

Sarah smiled contentedly. "Danny, how did you know?" she asked him again.

Danny took a deep breath and began to speak as he continued combing. "I know that you are, of course, aware about my brother Patrick. What you don't know, is about my sister."

Sarah turned to him in surprise, "You have a sister?"

Danny nodded and took her head in both his hands, gently moving her so that he could keep working on her hair. "I do. See, about a year after Patrick disappeared through the anomaly, when we all thought he'd been murdered by Ryan Mason, my parents got news that two of their friends had been killed in a house fire. They were devastated of course, and very concerned for their friends' young daughter Lisa. Lisa was almost nine at the time and she had no other relatives in the area. My parents took her in and went through the proceedings to legally adopt her."

"That was nice of them," Sarah commented.

"It was," Danny agreed, "but I didn't think so at the time. I was furious. I couldn't see it then like I do now. I felt that they were trying to replace Patrick. I'm ashamed to admit that I did not treat Lisa the way I should. As her older brother, I should have been looking out for her, but instead I shunned her. I refused to speak to her and often told her that she didn't belong with us. I told her I hated her and that Patrick was a much better sibling than she was. I was sixteen or seventeen at the time and it was somewhat childish of me, but I guess it was my own form of teenage rebellion.

"My actions caused me a lot of fights with my mother. She tried to tell me that Lisa had lost everything in that fire, her family, her pets, her belongings, and that she needed us to love her. The way I saw it, my mum was spoiling her rotten and the more I fought with my mum about it, the more we drifted apart from each other. My mother began to spend more time with Lisa avoiding me, and soon it felt like Lisa was replacing not only Patrick, but also myself. Lisa was my parents' dream child, the good child, and I felt horribly left out.

"It wasn't until one day when I overheard Lisa crying to my mother in her bedroom that I really realised how badly I was behaving. Lisa wasn't crying about her parents at that time, she was telling my mother that she wished_ I_ liked her. A wave of guilt washed over me and I finally let myself see that Lisa had lost _her_ family just like I had lost Patrick. I'd never stopped to take into account that Lisa needed someone who could understand what she was going through. I vowed to make it up to her and when I asked my mum what I should do the next day, she'd cried some happy tears and given me a huge hug. That's when she said to me, "Danny, let me tell you a secret; girls love to be pampered. If you really want to show them that you care and that they are special to you, tell them they are beautiful and comb their hair." I remember laughing, thinking it was some silly saying she'd made up, but as I had no other ideas, that night I sat on the edge of Lisa's bed and brushed her hair out for her while I apologized to her. After that, our relationship improved drastically. We had a lot of great talks over the years while I combed out her hair and when she eventually grew up and got married, I fixed her hair for her wedding."

Danny reached around Sarah and handed her the comb. "There," he said, "Done, you look beautiful. Does it feel better?"

Sarah nodded and turned to Danny. Danny saw that she was crying, "Danny, that story is so beautiful! I'm so happy you get along with her now."

Danny nodded, wiping Sarah's tears. "Me too, Sarah. I just hope I get to see her again someday."

"You will. We'll get home, Danny. I promise."

Danny nodded, "Yeah, someday. Now, let's get to sleep, hey?"

Sarah nodded and remade their leaf bed and they both, along with Molly-Spratt, drifted off to sleep in no time.


	7. Salt & Crabs

Sarah sat quietly in the morning light, turning her comb over and over in her palm. She hadn't noticed it in the dark the night before, but she now saw that Danny had carved her name into one side of it, and a rose into the other. It amazed her that he'd gone to so much trouble to give her something so beautiful. After all, the comb itself had been incredibly special. She ran it gently through her hair as she recalled what he'd told her last night. He'd told her, that to him, combing a girl's hair was his way of showing her he really cared. She hadn't really caught what he'd been implying at that time, she'd been much to focused on the story of his sister, but now she glanced down at his sleeping form and smiled. "You're special to me too, Danny," she whispered quietly so as not to wake him up.

She shuffled a bit then, so that she was sitting with her hip pressed against his side, her knees bent and her legs to the side. Molly-Spratt was still sleeping on Danny's stomach and Sarah absentmindedly reached to pet the dog between her ears before going back to combing her hair. After a few moments she sensed that Danny was awake and turned to find him watching her.

"Hey, You," she smiled at him.

Danny smiled back with that goofy grin of his and sat up, Molly-Spratt rolling off his stomach and into his lap. "Hey yourself," he replied. "Ready to explore?"

Sarah shook her head, "Almost. I want some breakfast first and we'd best use up the fish while it's good to eat. Also, I was hoping to find something to tie my hair with. Now that you've given me this gorgeous comb, I'd love to plait it to keep it out of my face. Any suggestions?"

"I've got just the thing," Danny grinned at her. "Pass me the comb."

Sarah handed it over and sighed contentedly as Danny plaited her hair and then handed her the end. "Hold that a moment, will you?"

Sarah nodded and pinched the end between her thumb and index finger while Danny reached for his knife. To her surprise, he suddenly cut a strip of material from the hem of his shirt to make her a red and white ribbon. He reached for her plait again and tied the end of it.

"Danny, I didn't expect you to tear your clothing!"

Danny shrugged. "Worked though, didn't it? Colour looks better on you than me."

Sarah smiled, "Thank-you."

He nodded and stood to go start a fire. Once they had a good blaze going, they sat down beside it and Danny heated the fish.

"Danny," Sarah asked, "The place we were before this, with the big cliff, what era do you think that was?"

"I have no idea, why?"

"I think I lost something there when we fell down the hill."

"Too late to go back now," Danny laughed, "What was it?"

Sarah hesitated before answering, "The artefact."

Danny's eyes widened, "It was you that took it?"

Sarah nodded, "Of course. I hit it in my coat, but it was quite bulky and must have fallen out. There was so much happening at once that I forgot about it."

Danny chuckled, "I thought Connor must have grabbed it. I didn't see you approach us at all. I hereby nickname you Ninja Chick."

Sarah smiled at that, but then turned serious again, "Really though, Danny, what if Helen finds it?"

Danny sighed, "Seems it fulfilled its use to her already anyway, and I really doubt she was even there with us. To be honest, Sarah, it probably broke in the fall, but whatever the case is, we've done all we can and worrying won't help anything, so forget it, okay?"

Sarah nodded and took a bit of her food, "Okay."

* * *

><p>An hour later they were packed up and ready to walk. The fish was finished, the last piece had gone to the dog, and they laid the empty leaf carrier across the sled. The other carrier still had a few mushrooms and salmon berries in it. Sarah carried this one while Danny wore the backpack and pulled the sled along with some difficulty due to the rocks. Molly-Spratt ran behind them for the moment. They found a few more tidal pools, but they couldn't carry anymore water, still having a bit of fresh water left in their water bottles. Sarah had stopped at one point to pick some moss when suddenly Danny called to her, "Sarah, c'mere!"<p>

She heard the excitement in his voice and knew he'd found something useful. She hurried over, hoping it was also something edible. Danny had a huge grin on his face as she approached. "They'd be an expensive delicacy at home!" He said, pointing.

Sarah squealed happily when she saw the pool he was standing over was filled with small crabs. She threw her arms around his neck in a quick hug and then sat down on a rock and opened the leaf carrier. "Let's get as many as we can."

Danny nodded and set about catching and killing the crustaceans while Sarah watched. "I think we're eventually gonna have to come up with a better way of carrying everything," Sarah said as she placed the crabs into the carrier. "These only hold so much."

Danny nodded, "Yep, but I've got no ideas."

"No, nor me, but we should think about it. Let's have these with the rest of the mushrooms and salmon berries for lunch and then fill up both carriers after."

"All-You-Can-Eat Crab buffet?" Danny grinned, "I say we fill both carriers and both our bellies."

"Of course."

Sarah sat the tin of water on a rock under the sun. "I wonder how long it'll take to evaporate," she said.

Danny shrugged, "In this heat, probably a couple days or so."

"We'd best be careful not to spill it before then. Do you think there are any predators here?"

Danny shrugged, "Doesn't seem like it, provided we keep away from the giant sand scorpions of course."

They were standing at the edge of the ocean as they talked, looking out at the vast watery expanse. Danny imagined that home was on the other side. It wasn't true of course, but the idea gave him some comfort. He reached for Sarah's hand and gave it a squeeze and she smiled at him. Sarah gave him comfort too.

"We really should look for some shelter," he said after a long silence. "The sun couldn't be good for our skin like this."

Sarah nodded, her expression suddenly becoming concerned, "Yeah, your nose is starting to burn, Danny."

They gathered up all their items and began to walk again with Molly-Spratt close to their heels. They stayed along the shore of the sea for the time being, and it was Sarah who first noticed the seaweed. Their carriers were chock full of crabs, but they smiled to find the new food source and vowed to get some later. It was near dusk now and Danny suggested them move inland to avoid the tide again. They still hadn't found anywhere that offered real shelter, but they walked until they had left all the tidal pools behind.

* * *

><p>When Danny awoke the next morning he found that he had been temporarily abandoned by both Sarah and Molly-Spratt. He frowned a bit. He wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of Sarah wandering off on her own. He felt it was a relatively safe area, but he still didn't like the idea. At least she had brought the dog, he comforted himself. Not that Molly-Spratt was likely to offer any sort of protection.<p>

Danny started a fire and began to cook a bit of breakfast. He didn't go in search of Sarah since he wasn't sure what direction she'd made off in and he was certain she'd be back soon. Sure enough, he heard Molly-Spratt's barking getting closer already. Sarah appeared a moment later, shivering and soaked to the bone.

Danny jumped to his feet and ran to meet her, "Sarah, what happened?"

Sarah shook her head, "Nothing _happened_," she replied, "I felt so gross, so I had a bath in the sea and washed my clothes too. I feel much better but I'm freezing."

Danny grabbed her elbow and led her back to sit by the fire to warm up and dry off. "I wish you'd told me you were going."

"Sorry," Sarah smiled sheepishly, "I thought I'd be back before you woke up."

"Even so, what if something had happened, Sarah? Next time, please wake me first."

"Would you have let me go?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah, I think it's safe enough around here, but I would've walked partway with you, kept you in earshot."

Sarah smiled and shuffled to sit a bit closer to him. "You know," she said, "you could really do with a bath too."

"Are you telling me I stink?"

Sarah giggled, "Like dead fish."

Danny tried his best to look offended, but he couldn't hide the teasing from his eyes as he retorted, "That, My Dear, is the smell of hard work and my providing for you."

Sarah raised her eyebrow and shrugged, "Be that as it may, you're still having a bath."

* * *

><p>It was evening, night really, but not late enough to go to sleep. They'd been in the Silurian for nearly a month and still hadn't found a decent shelter. Sarah didn't mind anymore. She'd long ago gotten used to sleeping outdoors. She'd even gotten used to the low oxygen levels and the accompanying headaches. Danny had gotten quite good at starting a fire without the use of lighter fluid, but Sarah found she could still use some practise. Danny had helped her start the one they were sitting by now. At least, Sarah was sitting. Danny was lying on his back and looking at the stars. They were both comfortably silent.<p>

"Sarah," Danny questioned her after a long time, "I can't find the Plough."

Sarah glanced at him and then lay back beside him. "May not be there. I think the constellations have moved and some stars have died."

"Died?"

"Went out then. Either way, the constellations are different."

"So these are all different, do you figure?"

"I dunno. I don't know them at home either."

"Nor me, just the plough. They're beautiful here though. There are so many of them."

"Yeah," Sarah agreed quietly as she stared straight up at the sky.

Danny smiled to himself thoughtfully and then rolled up onto his side, propping his head up on his elbow as he faced her. "_You're_ beautiful, Sarah," he said quietly, using his free hand to play with a loose strand of her hair that framed her face.

Sarah's attention turned from the sky to Danny staring down and her and she caught her breath and smiled back at him. "Thanks," she replied, not quite sure why they were whispering.

The moment was broken suddenly and they both jumped to their feet when the anomaly detector beside them whirred to life.

"Why now?" Sarah groaned, unintentionally speaking aloud.

Danny glanced at her with a smirk, "We could always ignore it."

"No," Sarah shook her head. "It might go home."

"You think so?"

"Not really," Sarah sighed, "But I guess we've been here so long that home is starting to feel like a dream or distant memory. Still, we agreed. We try them all, right?"

"Right," Danny answered as he packed up all their belongings. Sarah grabbed a branch and slipped the end into the fire to create a torch that she knew wouldn't last long at all and then she put the campfire out. "Come on, Molly Girl!" she called, "Time to go!"


	8. Connor's Fib

The anomaly wasn't far. Molly-Spratt ran through it first, barking joyfully and obviously thinking that it would lead to home. Sarah and Danny stopped just in front of it and Sarah put her torch out in the gravel before it could burn her hand.

"You ready?" Danny asked as they stared at the bright flickering ball of light in front of them.

"Not really," Sarah admitted. "I'd grown to like this place. But no worries, let's go."

Danny nodded. He felt the same, but there was no use in delaying it so he took a breath and stepped through.

The first thing that Danny noticed was that he was gulping for air. The air here was good: high in oxygen and unpolluted. He hadn't realised how much his body had been craving it until now and he couldn't seem to get enough. He saw Sarah beside him doing the same. The next thing he noticed about their surroundings was that they were in a forest.

He plonked himself down on a log, putting all his things to the side, as he tried to think what the next logical move should be. Sarah joined him and even Molly-Spratt hopped up onto the log, looking a bit dejected that they were still somewhere unrecognizable.

"Well, so far, so good," Danny commented.

Sarah nodded with a smile, "The air is good. We'll feel healthier here and more energetic."

"More growing things too," Danny replied. "Might be able to get something new to eat here. I was getting rather tired of salted crab and seaweed."

"Hold that thought for a bit," Sarah chuckled. "We've got a lot of crab meat left."

Danny faked a groan, "Ah well, if we find something new, Molly can have the rest."

"Danny, do you think there are predators here?"

"Probably."

"Dinosaurs?"

"Probably."

They both fell silent in thought for awhile until Sarah finally sighed, "Danny, can we move away from the anomaly please?"

"Sure, why?"

"It scares me a bit. The light might attract the dinosaurs to this area. Anyway, what if another opens? We'd think it's still this one on the detector. Best to get out of range, okay?"

"Okay, but I'm tired, Sare. Ten minutes to rest?"

"Fair enough, just, let's go before dark, alright?"

Danny nodded and they both became quiet again until Sarah broke the silence for a second time. "Danny, do you hear that?"

Danny listened carefully and slowly became aware that the forest wasn't as silent as he'd thought at first. The sounds coming from the surrounding area were so natural, as though they belonged to the forest, that he hadn't noticed them at first even though they were quite loud. Now he did hear them: groanings, growling, stamping, crashing, and what sounded like birds chirping. Danny stood quietly and nodded to Sarah. "Let's go," he whispered, reaching to give her hand a quick reassuring squeeze before letting go again to pick up their stuff.

They headed out, away from the anomaly. There wasn't a lot of light of day left, but Danny still studied their surroundings as best as he could. The forest they were in did not seem quite like the one where they had last seen Abby and Connor. The trees were shorter and the trunks not as red. Many were not pine trees at all, but rather something he didn't recognize. The ground was different too: drier. There were more large rocks and low bushes. He hoped the difference in scenery between here and the cretaceous also meant different dinosaurs. No raptors would be nice.

Danny stopped when he found a large group of low shrubs growing tightly together and pulled out the knife. "If I can cut us an opening," he said, "We could shelter under here for the night."

Sarah nodded agreeably and began to snap off a few of the smaller twigs that she could get with her bare hands, mostly so she could feel as though she were helping. They left as many branches in place as possible to keep themselves hidden and protected. As soon as they were able to, they crawled in with their belongings and Molly-Spratt. There wasn't a lot of room to move, but they could sit up and they placed themselves in the centre with the belongings all around them as a feeble attempt at an extra safety measure.

"It's actually quite cozy," Sarah commented sleepily as she curled up in Danny's arms for the night, "I like it here."

Danny nodded, his eyes closing in exhaustion, "Yeah, should we set a watch?"

It didn't really matter what she answered though, Sarah knew. They were both too tired to stay awake and it would never happen. "Molly can watch," she replied, eyes closed. "Isn't that the point of having a dog?"

"As long as her barks don't draw every living creature in the area to us."

Even Molly-Spratt though was asleep.

* * *

><p>When they woke up, they could see the pale pink of the morning sky through the branches above their heads. Sarah tried to sit up, but Danny tightened his grip and pulled her back down against him. Sarah glanced at him, puzzled, but Danny just grinned and quickly kissed her forehead. "Morning! Ready to see what awaits us?"<p>

"That depends on two things. One: whether or not what awaits us is going to eat us, and two: whether or not you're going to let me sit up."

Danny laughed and let go of her, sitting up himself. Sarah smiled at him and reached for some salted crab, "Ready for breakfast?"

* * *

><p>Half an hour later they had polished off the last of the crab, with Molly's help. Danny looked around their small fort, "Alright, let's leave what we can here, it should be safe enough, and go take a look around and try to find some lunch."<p>

"Are we making this our new home then?"

"Until we find something better."

"I like this place."

"It's not big enough. We need something large enough that we can have a fire."

They crawled outside, cautiously, and stood in front of their shelter looking around. None of the noises from the evening before had stopped, but they seemed a bit further away at the moment. When Danny was sure it was safe, he told Sarah to wait and he crawled back into their temporary space to gather up the backpack and a few basic things he wanted to take with them: mainly the knife, stun grenade, and anomaly detector.

Then he slipped the backpack on, returned to Sarah, and offered her his hand as they headed into the unknown.

They'd been walking for about an hour when Molly-Spratt gave a little bark and ran suddenly ahead.

"Dinosaur?" Sarah asked, gripping Danny's hand slightly tighter.

"Perhaps," Danny answered, "But she looked more playful than scared."

Sarah relaxed a bit as they continued in the direction Molly had gone, following her barking which definitely did sound playful now that she really thought about it. They found her a few moments later and Sarah stared in surprise at Molly's new-found playmate.

"I _knew_ it!" she exclaimed. "It _was_ something prehistoric! He lied to me!"

Danny stared at her, puzzled. "Who lied?"

"Connor. I've seen one of these before, on eBay. Connor called it Rex and then denied saying it and said it was nothing more than a baby dragon."

Danny looked back to the lizard playing with Molly, "This is Rex? Why would he lie about that?"

Sarah sighed, frustrated. "So _you_ knew Rex too then? Who is Rex? Connor and Abby both mentioned him, but then Connor denied it."

"They have a pet named Rex, a small dinosaur, but I didn't know what he looked like. Are you sure this is the same kind?"

"Of course I'm sure." They watched the winged lizard and Molly-Spratt bound about in a game that resembled tag. "I found it on eBay and pointed it out to Connor who said "Rex" and then denied it completely."

Danny nodded and sat down on a stump, content to let the animals play for a bit. Sarah remained standing. "Wonder why he lied?" Danny mused. "Or better yet, why the lizard was on eBay." Then he turned to her, "They have three you know."

"Three what?"

"Prehistoric pets. They've kept a couple of the diictodons from the hospital too. Called them Sid and Nancy."

"That's what Cutter called Abby and Connor," Sarah smiled. "He nicknamed them that the day that you arrested Connor."

Danny chuckled, "You should've seen him in jail."

Sarah giggled, but then turned serious again. "Think they made it home?"

"I hope so."

"I miss them, Danny. I miss everyone." She sat down beside him, forcing him over further onto the edge of the stump.

Danny nodded, "Yeah, me too. But we'll see them again someday, okay?"

"You think so?"

"Of course."

They sat silent for a long time remembering their friends, until Sarah suddenly asked, "Where did they get Rex?"

"Found him on the first mission, is what Lester said. It was Connor and Abby who discovered the first anomaly, you know."

"Really? I thought it was Nick."

"Nick was there, but he wouldn't have been if it wasn't for Connor's persistence in getting him there; Connor was the one who knew something was up. He was following through on a weird creature sighting. And Abby found it on her own through Rex. Lester briefed me about the ARC's history when I took over as Team Leader."

"What sort of creature was Connor looking for?"

Danny paused, trying to remember what Lester had said. Finally he shrugged, "I can't for the life of me remember the names, but there was one gentle giant of a plant eater and one giant-sized mean carnivore."

"Well, we've found the Rex, so the other two are probably around."

"You think? Yes, of course, you're probably right. Permian Era, I think."

Sarah nodded, that did sound familiar. She'd heard the word Permian thrown around a lot at the ARC. Suddenly she remembered something else. "Claudia Brown,"

"What?"

"They went to the Permian, Nick and Helen did, and when they came back, Claudia was Jenny. Danny, do you think… do you think we're changing history being here? What if we finally get home and find that none of our friends have ever been born?"

"Then we'll deal with it then. We have enough to worry about here, what with the giant-sized carnivore probably living nearby. We can't deal with the 'what ifs' now too, okay?"

"Okay."

Danny saw she was still thinking about it though, so he reached for her hand again and gave it a squeeze as he pulled her to her feet. "Shall we continue on our quest for lunch?"

Sarah nodded and Danny whistled for Molly-Spratt who came running at once, closely followed by the Rex look-alike. Danny sighed, wondering vaguely if they'd have to put up with two pets in their shelter that night.

* * *

><p>After awhile of walking, they came to the edge of the forest and found that the ground gradually sloped down here into a valley.<p>

"Look at them all!" Sarah cried as she stared in wonder at all the small flying green lizards flying overhead. Molly-Spratt barked excitedly, running in circles, but they were all too far in the air to be in her reach, other than her playmate that still stayed close.

"There're some of the giants over there too," Danny said, pointing lower into the valley. Sarah's gaze followed his finger.

"They look peaceful enough?"

"Right now. Hopefully they're the herbivores because there sure are a lot of them."

"I see one munching on a tree," Sarah said, shielding her eyes with her hand. "That's a good sign, right?"

"Definitely," Danny grinned. "No worries then."

"Think we could get closer to them? I think I see a lake down there."

Danny studied them for a bit and then nodded, "Yeah, I think so, if we go slow and quietly and don't act scared or threatening, I think we could. We've nothing to carry the water with though. Sorry, I should've thought to bring the water bottles."

"We'll go back and get them. It's not like we have to rush. Have you seen anything edible yet?"

Danny chuckled, "Do you like your dinosaur cooked medium rare?"

Sarah pulled her hand from his to give him a playful shove, "Abby'd kill you for that comment."

Danny nodded, "Truly spoken, but she's not here. C'mon, we'll find something to eat. I imagine some of the plants here are edible and perhaps we'll find some fish in the lake."

"Yeah, maybe we'll find it chock full of crab."

Danny groaned, "Don't even joke about that, Sarah. Nothing but crab for a month can turn a man right off of it."

Sarah laughed and patted his back reassuringly, "Don't worry, Danny. Crabs are salt water fish."


	9. Gaining a King

It took a few hours to make it back to their shelter to collect their water bottles. Sarah decided she would have lost her way on her own, but Danny's tracking skills were impeccable and he found the place easily enough.

"Danny, we should take the rest of this stuff with us," Sarah said suddenly.

"Why?"

"Well, we walked pretty far, and the lake could be even further than it looked from the top of the valley. We might not get back before dark."

Danny sighed, "Fine, we'll take the stuff we had with us originally, and the tools you made, but there's no point in dragging around the empty Leaf Carriers and the sled. If we find food, we'll eat for today and come back for more tomorrow. The large Leaf Carriers and sled might even scare the large dinosaurs and we don't want that. Besides, I need one hand free."

"What for?"

"To hold yours," Danny grinned at her, slightly flirtatiously.

Sarah blushed but shrugged nonchalantly, "Well, I suppose if you're scared…"

Danny tossed his head back with a loud laugh as he tossed as much as he could into the backpack and then, as promised, took her hand and led her forward again. "What are we going to name him?" he asked her.

"Who?"

"Molly-Spratt's new friend."

Sarah looked back and saw that the lizard was indeed still trailing beside the dog. She shrugged and grinned, "Rex the Second?"

Danny smiled but shook his head, "Too long and we'd end up shortening it to Rex and that'd be about as unimaginative as one could get."

Sarah pulled her hand from Danny's, kneeling down gently and beckoning to the lizard. "C'mere," she egged it toward herself. To both their surprise, the lizard gave a short flap of its wings and flew right to her without hesitation. Sarah gave him a quick pat on the head and then turned to Danny. "Look at this, Danny. He's got a little mark on his forehead, almost like a crown. Can we call him King?"

Danny laughed, "Lemme guess: Full name King Rex the Second?"

Sarah shrugged and grinned cheekily at him, "Well, if you insist…"

"King it is. Wonder how long he'll stick around for?"

"Until we run into those giant carnivores, probably." Sarah laughed.

"In that case, hopefully forever," Danny replied. "But come on, let's get going."

Sarah stood and slipped her hand back into Danny's waiting one and they continued on their way.

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon when they slowly descended into the open valley. Molly-Spratt had gotten frightened when she'd seen the large herbivores getting closer and she walked slowly, pressed to the back of Danny's ankles and nearly tripping him more than a few times.<p>

"Some guard dog," Danny muttered under his breath. He glanced around for King and spotted the lizard immediately. He was flying now, but still following close to Molly-Spratt. Every once in awhile Danny saw that King would dart up and join his lizard friends in the sky, but he always seemed to come back and chirrup impatiently at the dog, as if annoyed that Molly was not joining him in the air.

Danny and Sarah walked nervously between the large dinosaurs, talking amongst themselves as they tried not to appear at all interested in them. A couple of the gentle giants looked at them curiously and one even took a few steps toward them before changing his mind, but over all, the humans were more or less ignored.

They reached the lake without difficulty and filled their water bottles. Sarah drank most of hers and then refilled it again a second time before plopping herself down on the gravely lake side ground.

"It's so relaxing here," she commented. "Reminds me of camping when I was young." She smiled as she watched Molly-Spratt leap into the water for a swim.

"I'm guessing you're excluding the dinosaurs in that memory."

"Well, yeah."

Danny sat beside her, peering into the water to see if there were any fish. He thought he saw some movement in the water near the bottom, but it was hard to tell for sure.

"Danny, what's that sound?"

Danny stopped and listened, but he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Sarah always had had sharper hearing than he.

"What sound, Sare?"

Sarah moved closer to him, as if listening to something, and then she gasped, "It's the detector, it's going off again!"

Danny frowned and took off the backpack. "Sarah, I don't hear anything." But when he pulled it out of the bag, he saw that it was going off indeed, extremely quietly. The anomaly must have been about as far away as it could be to still be picked up by the detector.

Sarah glanced at it over his shoulder, "Where is it?"

"Far. Sarah, we just got here! Maybe it's the same one we came through still."

"That would be too far now," Sarah glanced at the detector again, "and in the opposite direction. This is new. C'mon."

"We just got here!" Danny repeated.

"And now we're just leaving. We go through them all, Danny. That was the deal. Maybe it goes home." She started to gather their things together.

"Sarah," Danny grabbed her arm to gain her attention, "I think we need an 'unless'. We go through them all… unless they go to the future. That's just suicide, yeah? Besides, we could learn things we… shouldn't."

Sarah nodded, "Okay, fine, but we don't know _where _this one goes yet, so we make for it."

"Should we go back for the carriers and sled?"

"We'll make a new one. Danny, it's far, and we don't know how much time we have. Please, let's just go. I don't want to miss our change of getting home by wasting time."

Danny nodded and helped her pack up, shouldering the backpack again. Once they were walking, he took her hand and spoke gently, "You know, the chance of it going home is really slim, Sarah."

"Don't, Danny. Let me hope."

He nodded and kept silent until the anomaly came into view a couple hours later. Then both Sarah and Danny stopped, making no attempt to go any further. "That doesn't look at all like the other ones," Sarah whispered, referring to the gigantic reptile that was roaming back and forth about thirty feet away from the flickering light. So far it hadn't seen them.

"Do we make a run for it?" Danny asked.

"It'll chase us through."

"Might not. That anomaly actually looks too small for it. Either way, it might not figure out where we've gone."

Sarah hesitated. The dinosaur looked like it could swallow her in one gulp it was so big, and she had a feeling it was the type to do so.

Suddenly Molly-Spratt noticed the carnivore too and began to bark. The dinosaur turned it's head toward them and Sarah made up her mind, "Run!"

She switched off all logical thoughts as she ran madly for the anomaly. She wasn't sure where Danny was, nor the dinosaur, nor the dog. She simply ran, trying to block out the dinosaur's growls as it raced toward her. She heard Danny yell something, but she didn't know what. She ran until she was emerged in the golden light and she ran until she was running on soft golden sand. Then she fell down and dared to breathe. To her relief, she found Danny just a couple paces to her side and no sign of the dinosaur.

"Where's Molly-Spratt?" she asked.

"Behind you."

Sarah nodded and turned to find Molly hiding behind her back, visibly shaken. Danny reached down to help Sarah back to her feet.

"Well, that was more eventful that I'd have liked," he commented.

"Yeah."

"Any ideas where we are now?"

Sarah looked around and shook her head, "No, but there seems to be a lot of sand. Oh, _please_ don't tell me we're back in the Silurian."

Danny shook his head, "No, the air is better here."

Sarah nodded her agreement, "And the sand is redder. C'mon, I see a couple palm trees in the distance. Shall we head that way?"

"It's as good a way as any other," Danny grinned at her.

They took only a few steps before Molly-Spratt suddenly jumped up and ran back toward the anomaly, barking.

"_Molly!_" Danny called out, urgently, but the dog didn't go through. She simply stopped beside it and sat down, barking expectantly. A moment later came a small chirrup as King floated through gracefully and landed at the dog's side.

Danny and Sarah exchanged a glance.

"How are going to get him to go back?" Sarah sighed.

"We're not; there's a carnivore on the other side."

"But Danny, it needs to go through. King needs to go home."

"And so do we, but I'm not getting eaten for the sake of returning a lizard back home. King's free to leave or stay as he pleases, but I suggest _we _move on."

Sarah nodded and then suddenly she once again became aware of an unusual sound. "Danny," she called, running over a nearby sand dune, lizard forgotten, "I hear bells!"

"_Bells?_" Danny followed her, puzzled and listening. He reached the top right behind her and found Sarah's eyes glowing excitedly.

"Danny, look!"

Danny stared in disbelief at the long parade of camels strolling by, each carrying a large bundle and wearing a harness covered in small golden bells.

"They didn't put those packs on themselves, Danny!"

Danny's smile rivaled hers, "No indeed! Humans live here!"


	10. Being Spies

Sarah and Danny watched the camels go by for a few moments before Sarah grabbed Danny's elbow and pulled him down low into the sand where they wouldn't be seen. Danny looked at her, questioningly.

"We both may be happy enough to see another human, but before we're caught we'd better try and find out who they are and where we are and when we are. We need a cover story that won't get us killed and not all human eras were peaceful."

"Right, okay," Danny agreed, whispering back to her. "How do we go about finding out?"

"You're going to spy on them."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because, Danny, you're like a regular James Bond aren't you? No one else could have broken into the ARC _and _Christine's HQ like you did."

Danny flashed Sarah an appreciative grin, but proceeded to protest anyway. "Not that I don't agree with you in that I know my skills_ are_ somewhat superb, but you're far more likely to recognize what we're actually looking at, Sare. I admit I was always a history buff, but no one knows the subject like you do."

"Then we go together?"

Danny nodded, "We're better together anyway. Now, follow me and I'll get us close and unnoticed."

Sarah nodded but hesitated, "What about Molly and King?"

Danny glanced at the animals that were tearing back and forth across the sand in a game of chase, "I knew it was a dumb idea to keep pets out here," he muttered, but the he shrugged. "Ah well, we'll just have to hope for the best. C'mon."

Sarah watched as Danny slid lower down the sand dune and then stood up and half ran, half slid to the bottom. She followed close behind as Danny led her around to the side of it and then quickly ushered her between two more dunes until they were quite close and just out of sight.

"Now," he whispered, "Stay quiet and listen."

Sarah nodded and did so. The camels had passed and were being followed by a large group of people, but the people were talking and laughing and they sounded relaxed. She didn't think this was an army or any other group of war-minded folks.

"They're speaking Hebrew," she whispered to Danny. "I think they're early Israelites."

"Do you understand the language?"

"Enough I think, though their accents are strong and it makes it hard."

"I thought camels were an Egyptian thing?"

"They were both, but Israelites didn't use them as often. They preferred cattle. I wonder why these ones have so many with them."

"Are they dangerous to us?"

"The people? No, I don't think so, as long as we don't do anything too stupid. The camels, however, are known to spit."

"Ha ha, very funny. What do you mean by stupid?"

"Well I'd think twice before I'd start flirting with any of their women," Sarah laughed.

"What? Me, a flirt?" Danny pretended to be shocked at her accusation.

"Yes, you. In fact, we'll have to tell them we're married."

"_What?_"

Sarah sighed, "For my sake. I don't really feel like being taken prisoner and sold off to some rich foreigner to be added to his harem."

"Right, okay, we're married. Can we go to Hawaii for our honeymoon?" Danny grinned at her, jokingly.

Sarah playfully shoved him, "Sure, if you can book us a flight out of here."

"I'm on it, and if I don't succeed, well at least we found a hot sandy beach."

"Minus the ocean."

Danny nodded, smiling, "Anyway, moving on, so we're married. What else?"

"You go by Daniel."

"What? Why?" Danny asked, sounding annoyed.

"Because they'll recognize it as a name. What's wrong with Daniel? It's a lovely name."

"It's what people call me when I'm in trouble."

"Your parents?"

"Well they started it, but generally anyone who is annoyed at me."

"In that case, you should be used to it," Sarah teased.

"What about you, can I still call you Sarah?"

"Yes, of course. Now, next I need to know something."

"Okay, what?" Danny asked. When she didn't reply, he looked over and saw her biting her lip, nervously. "Sarah, what is it?"

"Danny, I need to ask you something, but you've gotta be totally honest with me. I promise I won't be mad either way, but it's somewhat important. In fact, it could be a life or death situation… for you."

"I'm listening," Danny said, seriously.

"Did you mean it the other day when you said I was beautiful?"

"Yes, you're stunning," Danny replied without hesitation, "but what's with that whole speech about my answer? Were you planning on killing me if I said no?"

"Daniel," Sarah warned with a smile, "I need you serious."

"I was serious," he replied, "At least about you being stunning."

Sarah leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Then we need to pretend something is wrong with me."

"Why?"

"So that they don't kill you to get you out of the way so they can still take me for some rich dude's Harem."

"_Waaaiiit_ a minute," Danny said slowly. "You're saying that when I agreed to marry you, I was putting myself in danger?"

Sarah tilted her head and batted her eyelashes at him, "My hero."

He grinned and draped an arm around her shoulders, "Well, when you put it that way…"

"Thank-you, Danny. Now, what should we say is wrong with me?"

Danny stood and moved to peek around the sand dune at the group that had passed into the distance now. He watched as they seemed to be stopping and setting up tents. "Children were important in these times weren't they? We could say you're barren…"

"Good idea, only how would I ever bring that up in conversation?"

Danny grinned, "Fortunately, I don't have to worry about that. I don't speak the language which means you get to do all the talking."

"Probably a good thing anyway. Why should we say you don't speak Hebrew?"

"We travelled here from afar and we're very lost. We come from the land called London where these odd clothes we're wearing are quite common, as are pet dogs and flying lizards."

"Got it."

"Sarah?"

"Yeah?"

"Will they believe we're married?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

"Because, you know, you're, you're Indian. Would that be accepted in these times?"

Sarah nodded, slowly, "Yes, I think so. There was a lot of mixed marriages in Israeli history. I'm only half Indian though, you know."

"Still, they can't tell. What's your other half?"

"Moroccan. But you're right, it's besides the point. I think we'd better tell them I'm Egyptian. They'll understand that better. I'm the daughter of an Egyptian man named… Lester. You used to serve my family and when you'd earned your freedom he gave you my hand in marriage as a payment for your faithful services and you took me back to your hometown. They'd buy that, and with me coming from a rich Egyptian family, it'd explain why I spoke the language."

"Do you speak Egyptian too?"

"I do."

"Then we're set. Shall we join them?"

Sarah nodded and Danny reached for her hand as they made their way across the sand, followed by their two pets. He had a feeling that hand holding wasn't customary in these times, but they were both a bit nervous and he didn't think they'd get into trouble for it. Anyway, Sarah knew more about that sort of thing and she wasn't pulling away.

They were still some distance from the camp when they were spotted.

"_Oi!_ Who are you?" Sarah quickly translated into Danny's ear as a boy of about fourteen came running up to them. He stopped a few feet away though, staring uncertainly at Molly-Spratt and King.

A few others from the camp had turned to watch as well, but no one else stepped forward. Sarah held out her hands in a gesture that she hoped was friendly.

"I'm Sarah," she said haltingly in their language, "And this is my husband Daniel."

Beside her, Danny winced at the name and Sarah gave him a little glare for it. "We've travelled very far and we are lost."

The boy hesitated and then came closer, "Your husband, why does he not answer for himself?"

"He does not understand your language."

"Will your livestock bite?"

Sarah shook her head, "No, they are tame."

"They are very funny looking. So are you. What are these clothes that you wear? What are the animals?"

"They are common where we are from, both the clothing and the animals. The animals are a dog and a lizard. We call them Molly and King."

"And where _do _you come from?" asked a burly looking man who had come to stand behind the boy.

"London, do you know it?" Sarah answered confidently.

"No, must be far."

"It is," Sarah answered, "But it is a lovely place."

Molly-Spratt gave a little bark, tired of the delay, and made a move to go after King again. King took the air just out of Molly's reach.

"Will the dog eat your lizard?" asked the boy.

"No, they are just playing," Sarah replied, giggling as King suddenly landed on Danny's shoulder. Molly jumped up at Danny's feet, trying to reach his lizard pal, causing Danny to step back and trip over Sarah's foot, leaving him effectively sprawled out on his bottom in the sand. The boy and the man both began to howl with laughter and even Sarah giggled a bit as she offered Danny her hand to help him back up.

Danny glared at her as he clung to her arm, "It's not funny, Sarah."

"We could take a vote on that," she retorted, nodding toward the two Israelites.

"Be nice, or I'll divorce you, Mrs. Quinn," he shot back, but he was laughing himself.

"What's he saying?" the boy asked suddenly as he listened to Sarah and Danny's strange tongue curiously.

"He says he's embarrassed, but happy to give you such pleasure at his expense. And then he told me to ask your names," Sarah lied.

"I'm Job," the boy supplied, "And this is my uncle Barachi. We are all journeying to Egypt where we hope to trade our camels for food. The land is very sparse this year, not much grew. Will you join us?"

"We will," Sarah agreed, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the idea of seeing ancient Egypt in person. She turned quickly to Danny and translated for him, "They are friendly with us and have invited us to go to Egypt with them. Their names are Job and Barachi."

Danny frowned, looking puzzled. "I was always told the Egyptians and Israelites hated each other."

"Sometimes they did, but we've ended up in a time of peace."

"Your husband, he frowns," Barachi said. "He does not approve of you joining us?"

"He does," Sarah answered quickly. "Please tell us about Egypt."

"All in good time, m'lady." Barachi answered. "It's near suppertime now. Come, let me introduce you to the others.

Sarah nodded and they followed Job and Barachi back to the camp.


	11. Meeting Miriam

Barachi introduced Sarah and Danny to a whirlwind of people and Sarah was unable to catch any of the names. Most of the people stared at them, and their pets, seeming to be openly curious about them. Barachi was speaking quickly now and Sarah had trouble keeping up with the conversation as she had to translate it in her own head.

"What's being said?" Danny asked her, whispering quietly for her ears alone even though he knew the others couldn't understand him anyway.

"I'm not entirely certain," Sarah confessed quietly. "He is speaking too fast now, but he seems to be telling the others about us." She bit her lip and Danny noticed she was a bit more nervous around them when she couldn't understand what was being said. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and gave her a goofy smile and she relaxed again.

"Come," Job said suddenly, turning to them. Sarah repeated the order in English to Danny and they followed Job over to a large campfire with a group of people sitting around it. He motioned for them to join and they did so, placing themselves upon the sandy ground with a log at their back. Danny put his arm around Sarah's shoulders and she leaned against him, listening to those around her and trying to pick up the conversations. She understood parts of it, they seemed to be talking about the shortage of crops though and she tuned out after a bit and just let herself enjoy the fire's warmth and Danny's company. Funny how after months of seeing only Danny, she felt content to pretend it was only the two of them still now and ignore everything else. She glanced up at him and saw that he was watching her, also ignoring the others around them. The exchanged a smile and then Sarah turned her eyes back to the campfire.

The pets were resting close by and suddenly Molly-Spratt stretched and got up and then plonked herself down onto Danny's lap. Danny absentmindedly began to stroke the dog between her ears with his free arm. King was sleeping soundly in the sand. Sarah noticed that the Israelis were still a bit nervous about the animals, but nobody asked that they be removed from the fire area. It was starting to get bit dark out and a few stars were coming out when Sarah let out a yawn.

"Tired?" Danny teased her.

Sarah nodded, "Very."

Danny placed a sympathetic kiss on the top of her head. "Why don't you close your eyes for a bit, Sare? I'll look after ya."

Sarah nodded and did so, but she didn't sleep. She just rested and listened to the sounds around her. She was happy here, surrounded by other human voices and knowing she was safe. It felt like a long while that she sat like that until she heard Danny's voice again, "Sarah, someone's talking to us."

Sarah let her eyes open and was surprised at just how dark it was outside now. She found a woman about her own age standing in front of them. Sarah smiled at her, "I'm sorry, my husband does not speak your language."

"I have goat's meat stew and milk for you," the lady offered and Sarah suddenly noticed the large clay bowl and jug that the woman was holding out. Sarah's eyes lit up as she took the offered gift.

"_Thank_-you! We are very hungry. We appreciate this so much. What is your name?"

"Miriam," the lady replied. "Please, eat."

Sarah offered the stew to Danny first, telling him to save some for her, and took a swig of the goat's milk herself. She drank about half of it before trading with Danny. It was hard, she found, to eat the stew straight from the bowl without spilling, but she managed. When she was finished she sighed contentedly and handed the clay dishes back to Miriam. "Thank-you," she repeated. "I am Sarah, and my husband's name is Daniel."

"Yes," Miriam responded, "I know. Everyone has been told your names by now."

"How many are you?" Sarah asked. "I mean, how many people are in your group here?"

"Almost four hundred if you count the women and children."

"Well as a women, I'd say we count," Sarah chuckled.

"Not for much," Miriam spoke, clearly not understanding that Sarah had been teasing. "But you are here alone? Have you no children?"

Sarah's eyes lit up at the question. This was the conversation she'd needed to protect her make-believe husband. "No," she answered, "I am barren."

Miriam looked at Sarah, puzzlement coming across her face, "But why do you look so happy?"

Sarah cursed herself mentally for the slip-up. Of course she should have acted devastated. "Oh," she replied, thinking fast, "My husband is worth more to me than many sons. He takes care of me always."

Miriam glanced at Danny, "He does not mind that you have given him no children? Does he have children with other wives?"

Sarah wanted to laugh at the question, but she knew better than to do so. "No, he has none but I. We are content."

Miriam nodded, "Everyone is talking about how he acts with you. It is unusual."

Sarah frowned, "How so? I am afraid I do not know differently."

"He looks at you like you are special: equal or even better than himself to him. He also touches you in public. See how his arm rests on you even now. I have never seen a man show such affection to his wife before. It is obvious to all that he loves you very much."

"Oh," Sarah said, surprised. She found herself blushing as she glanced up at Danny. He was smiling at her as he listened to them talk, and Sarah found herself glad that he couldn't actually understand what was being said. She glanced back at Miriam, "I-I didn't realise that was so unusual. I guess I didn't think about it."

"Personally, I think it's sweet," Miriam replied, placing a comforting hand on Sarah's knee. "And you, you love him too, don't you?"

Sarah hesitated. She knew she should play along, after all he _was _supposed to be her husband, but maybe that didn't mean anything here and it felt weird to say it out loud when she hadn't really admitted it to herself yet. Still, Miriam was waiting and Sarah didn't really think she could fool the woman. She looked back at Danny once more for a quick glance and then turned back again. "Yeah, I do," she confessed to the woman in front of her and her heart skipped a beat as she realised just how true the words were.

"Like I said," Miriam laughed, "it's unusual. Now, what about these two?" she pointed her finger at Molly-Spratt and then waved it around to point at King. "What do they eat?"

"Oh," Sarah said, surprised that Miriam would care enough to ask. "King just eats plants and fruits and stuff. He's pretty good at finding his own meals. Molly-Spratt eats most the same things we do _except _she's not too fond of the plants and fruits."

"So would she eat some of the goat meat stew?"

"She'd love that, but do you really have enough to share with a dog?"

Miriam laughed, "Normally, no, but in your case I've come to the conclusion that these animals are less like livestock and more like your own children. We just keep cattle, goats, sheep and camels and I've never seen one of them sleep on their owners lap before. Another reason you two are unusual. I'll be back with the stew."

Sarah giggled and thanked her and when Miriam left she turned to Danny, "Her name's Miriam. She's lovely. She's gone to get some stew for Molly-Spratt."

"Really? That's nice of her. But what else did she say."

Sarah shrugged, "Not much really."

"She did, she said something that made you blush."

Sarah blushed again and gently tapped Danny's nose with her index finger, "And _that,_ was private girl talk and none of your business."

Danny's face lit up with a goofy grin and he raised his eyebrows, his expression daring her to argue, "I bet it was about me."

Sarah couldn't help but to laugh, "Only you'll never know, will you? I will tell you this though; she did ask if we had children so I was able to inform her that I'm barren. Here's hoping she'll spread the word."

It was Danny's turn to burst out laughing, "Oh the things we want everyone gossiping about. Still, I imagine it's for the best."

"It's for _your _safety after all. She figures we treat our livestock like children instead."

"Well, not quite," Danny laughed. "If we really had children I probably wouldn't make them hunt their own food," he glanced at King.

"Still, they don't have pets at all, only livestock, so I imagine we do look a bit unusual trying to care for the dog and lizard."

"You think that's okay?"

"Yeah, she said it was unusual but she didn't seem to think anything was wrong with it. I think it amused her. We won't run into trouble because of it."

"Sarah?"

"Hmmm?"

"Thank-you, for taking the time to learn all these ancient languages."

Sarah burst out laughing, "Trust me, I'm glad I did it or we'd really have been in trouble, yeah? But if we're here long enough you'll pick up on the language in no time too. After all, you taught yourself Latin. Hebrew is much easier."

"Is it? Teach me some, will you?"

"Sure, but not here and not tonight. I don't want anyone overhearing to pick up on English after all. We need _some_ way to communicate without being overheard."

"Right. Tomorrow morning then, perhaps?"

Sarah nodded, but before she could respond, Miriam came back with the bowl of food for Molly-Spratt who lapped it up eagerly.


	12. Danny Wears a Dress

Danny was beginning to grow extremely tired as they sat by the fire still. Many of the other people had retired for the night into the tents that were scattered across the sand. Sarah was resting against him with her eyes closed and Danny wasn't sure if she was asleep or not, but she'd been awfully quiet for a long time. He placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head and let his own eyes close too.

He wasn't sure how much time went by before he felt Sarah shaking him awake. "Daniel, Daniel, wake up a moment," she was saying. Danny opened one eye to peer at her.

"What is it, Sare?"

"Barachi set up a tent for us so we can sleep inside. C'mon."

Danny opened his other eye and noticed the man named Barachi standing nearby, waiting for them to follow him. He smiled gratefully as he stood up and brushed the sand from his garments. "Tell him thank-you," he said to Sarah and then listened carefully as she relayed the message. _'Toda'_ he thought to himself, storing the Hebrew word for thank-you in his memory and thinking that it would be a useful one to know.

They followed Barachi across the sand until they came to the far end of the camp. There was a tent sent up for them that appeared to have been made of camel hide, and Danny was glad that Abby wasn't around to see it or she probably would have had a fit. Barachi stood at the tent's entrance and gestured for them to go in.

"Toda!" Danny replied with a cheeky grin, and Sarah burst out laughing, knowing that he was showing off.

"It's probably the only word he's picked up," she said quickly to Barachi, "But he's smart, he'll be speaking your language in no time."

Barachi grinned back at her, "Ah, well here's another one for him. Tell him good night."

Sarah turned back to Danny. "He says good night. Lailah Tov."

Danny nodded at Barachi, "Lailah Tov."

Barachi smiled at Sarah, "His pronounciation is impeccable. You're right, he'll learn fast."

Sarah smiled and gave a little wave to Barachi as she reached for Danny's hand and pulled him into the tent, followed by Molly-Spratt and King, and let the flap close behind them.

Once they were inside, she let out a quiet squeal of excitement. "Danny, look! They've left us clothing and blankets! Oh it'll be a nice change."

Danny eyed the cream-coloured piece of clothing that Sarah was holding out to him suspiciously, "That's a dress," he stated matter-of-factly.

Sarah giggled, "It's a robe, Danny. In case you hadn't noticed, it's what they wear here, men included. You'll be at the height of fashion in this thing."

"Sarah, I _don't _do dresses."

Sarah rolled her eyes at him. "Danny, look at what you're wearing now. You've been in that outfit for_ months._ You'd think you'd be relieved to have something else to put on, and this is clean too. At least put it on for now, until we can wash and mend your other clothes."

"What if there's another anomaly again? It's not very practical for running from dinosaurs, is it?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "We aren't going to throw our old clothing out, just while we're here, yeah?"

Danny took the garment, hesitantly. "Fine," he muttered, "But if I put this on you have to promise me that you will never, ever, ever tell anyone about it when we get back home."

Sarah giggled and nodded, "Okay, okay. I promise. I'm gonna go stand outside the tent while you get changed. Call me when you're done."

She stepped outside into the warm night air and waited patiently. It was taking a bit longer than she'd expected it too and finally she called inside, "Danny, you okay in there?"

"Yeah," he responded. "You can come in, but don't laugh."

Sarah stepped back inside and found Danny wearing the robe and holding the rope belt in his hand. He looked at her helplessly, "I couldn't find the belt loops."

Sarah laughed, earning a glare from Danny, and took it from him. "You don't need them, Danny. Just tie it securely enough and it'll stay." She reached around him and wrapped the rope at his waist and then tied it securely at his side.

"Not too tight a knot," Danny told her. "I want to be able to get this thing off after, you know"

Sarah teasingly pulled the knot a bit tighter before letting the rope fall from her hands. "There, you look dashing. Now go skedaddle so I can change into mine."

Danny did as he was bid, stepping outside and waiting for her. She called him back in a couple minutes later and he found her wearing a robe that was nearly identical to his, only it had been died a light blue colour and there was no belt. "Colour looks nice on you," he told her honestly. "You definitely wear it better than I do, and I'm relieved to say that, as it _is_ a dress."

To his surprise, Sarah suddenly reached around his waist and gave him a hug, "Thanks, Danny."

Danny smiled down at her and returned the hug, keeping her close for a few moments before letting her go. "We should sleep, Sare."

Sarah nodded and released her grip on Danny's waist. Danny watched as she grabbed one of the woven blankets from the folded pile and spread it out onto the ground. She then grabbed another one lay down. Danny grabbed the last blanket and hesitated before moving to the other side of the tent to spread it on the ground.

Sarah immediately sat upright and gave him a puzzled look. "Danny, what are you doing?"

"Sleeping."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "But why are you way over there? You aren't going to snuggle with me tonight?"

Danny grinned at her and immediately moved closer, lying down again and pulling her into his arms. "I wasn't sure," he admitted. "We said we had to cuddle at night for comfort and warmth, but with the blankets and the sand under the tent floor and the warm weather, I didn't know if you'd want to. Didn't want to overstep my boundaries."

Sarah laughed, "You're unbelievable at times, you know that, Danny? What about emotional comfort? Trust me; I'll sleep better if I can feel you're nearby."

"Good," Danny replied, kissing her forehead. "Goodnight, Sarah."

"Lailah Tov," she replied with smirk.

* * *

><p>Danny woke early the next morning and found that Sarah was gone. He peeked out the tent flap and saw her sitting on a log and watching as a young girl nervously pet Molly-Spratt. King was flying about pecking at some of the small weeds that were growing through a couple places in the sand. He smiled and moved to sit beside Sarah on the log.<p>

"Morning," he said.

"Morning," she replied, smiling back. She nodded toward the girl, "Her name's Amit. She's Miriam's youngest daughter. Miriam sent her this morning to bring us breakfast." She pointed to a wooden plate containing a small fish and some hard-crusted bread that sat on the ground.

Danny took it and offered some to Sarah but she shook her head, "I already ate mine, that's all yours."

Danny nodded and devoured the food hungrily. The fish seemed to have been seasoned with something that reminded him of salt and cooked in oil.

"Sarah?" he asked when he had finished eating. "What do they expect from us? They keep giving us all this stuff and yet we are just strangers in this land."

"They don't seem to expect anything," She replied, "Except maybe some stories. Amit here has been begging me to tell her about our travels and the places we've been to. They know we have nothing to offer, they just want to help."

"Are you sure?"

Sarah nodded and then she quickly added, "The tent, they say it's ours, and the blankets and clothing too. We can keep it, but the catch is that we have to carry it all of course. They seem to feel sorry for us. They offered us a goat."

Danny chuckled, "I hope you said no. We've got enough pets at the moment."

Sarah nodded, "That's what I told them."

"Did they say how long it'd take us to reach Egypt?"

Sarah shrugged, "Not really. I did ask and they said it's not too far, but they are nomads, Danny, their idea of far and ours is different. They also said they like to stop a lot, sometimes for weeks at a time. I imagine it'll be months before we actually get there."

"Why so long? You'd think they'd be in more of a hurry if they have no food."

"They have some, but not enough to last. It's grain they want, so they can plant it and grow a harvest and not have to worry about running low. They seem to just live day by day though and they don't seem too worried just yet."

"You seem to have gotten a lot of information from them," Danny laughed. "How early were you up?"

Sarah shrugged, "Early enough. Hours ago, I think."

"I don't know how you woke so early; you were as tired as I was."

Sarah chuckled and let out a yawn. "Yes," she nodded and gestured toward Amit, "But this little one entered our tent hoping to see us and demanding I entertain her."

Danny smiled at her sympathetically, "Why don't you go have a nap now?"

Sarah shook her head, "It's alright. I think we'll be moving soon actually. Job came by and said we should start taking the tent down and packing up. I just didn't want to do it quite yet because you were still sleeping in it."

Danny stood, "Well, I'm not now. Shall we?"

Sarah nodded and joined him as they tried to figure out how to dissemble the tent together, but it wasn't long before they had an audience of children laughing hysterically at them.

"They think we're funny," Sarah stated.

"I may not speak the language, Sare," Danny replied, "But I gathered that much on my own."

Finally the tent came down, collapsing onto Danny, and just as they packed up, Job came running over and announced that it was time to be on the move.


	13. Beach Volleyball

"Have you noticed," Danny mused out loud to Sarah, "That you and I are local celebrities?"

It was morning and they'd been travelling slowly with the Israelites for nearly two months now. Sarah had been right, Danny was picking up on their language exceedingly fast, but he still spoke to her in English most of the time to avoid being overheard by those around him.

Sarah looked up at Danny questioningly, but she didn't say anything as they continued to walk hand-in-hand through the golden sand.

"I mean it, Sare," he continued. "I still haven't figured out the names of half these people, but they all know ours. As soon as we wake up each morning we're greeted by a crowd of excited children, and people keep giving us things for free. We get two cooked meals a day, free clothing, blankets, and we never do anything. And that's not to mention the amount of people that want us to come see their tents, critique their pottery, hold their babies and bless their goats."

Sarah giggled, "Well, we're different, Danny, that's all. We're the exciting new strangers from an exotic land that is so far away that no one has even heard of it. We know many things they don't, and even our animals are unusual. They're just curious, is all." She glanced over and watched as Molly-Spratt and King ran in excited circles around a group of young boys and girls who had grown exceptionally fond of the idea of keeping pets.

"Well technically," Danny pointed out, "King is somewhat unusual even in our _exotic_ land of London."

"Spoken truly," Sarah replied.

"Even now though," Danny continued on his earlier train of thoughts, "You notice they keep watching us? Some more openly than others, of course, but they're all at least taking glances. You'd think we'd have been here long enough now that their curiosity would have passed."

"Well it could partly be amusement," Sarah replied. "They think you're cute."

Danny faked a look of offense. "_Cute? Me?_ Hardly."

Sarah chuckled, "Okay, but they think the way you after me is adorable. Miriam told me the other day that she wished her husband would hold her hand. She'd never seen such a gesture before."

"Well it's not completely unheard of," Danny countered. "I saw Job sneaking off and holding hands with a young girl the other day."

Sarah's interest was suddenly piqued. "Really? Oh I just bet it was Miriam's oldest daughter Alexandria! Miriam told me that Job has been hanging around her a lot lately. She figures they'll be betrothed soon enough."

"_Engaged_ you mean. Don't forget that I'm from the same century that as you," Danny grinned. "Speak _my _English please."

Sarah playfully kicked at the back of his ankle, "Whatever, Danny, you know what I meant."

"Aren't they a bit young?"

"He's fourteen, she's thirteen. That's normal in this culture. You should know that Danny. You've studied history too."

"I suppose," Danny admitted, "But when you read about it in books, you just assume the kids are more maturing faster than the ones at home. When you talk to them, they still seem like kids."

Sarah nodded thoughtfully, but then changed the subject knowing that it didn't really make a difference what they thought anyway. "You know, he looks up to you, Danny. I bet they were mimicking you and I with the hand-holding thing."

"You think?" Danny sounded surprised at the idea.

"I do. And if he's using you as an example, you'd best be setting a great one."

"Hard to do in a society that tells kids to marry before sixteen."

"I didn't mean about that, I meant how you treat me."

"And do _you_ think I treat you properly?"

Sarah nodded, "Brilliantly. In fact, I bet if we told people the truth, that we weren't really married, no one would believe it."

Danny laughed and squeezed her hand a little tighter.

* * *

><p>They'd stopped for the day and Sarah was off somewhere talking to Miriam when Danny suddenly had an idea. He found a piece of pliable leather that was in a large bundle of supplies they'd been given. He bundled up some cloth and tied the leather around it securely with twine. Then he took it outside and called some of the older kids over to teach them how to play European football.<p>

* * *

><p>Sarah sat on a log beside Miriam, giggling as she watched Danny running around after a homemade leather ball with a bunch of kids who hadn't quite grasped the concept of Danny's silly game. It wasn't their fault really, because the ball didn't roll. Danny hadn't made it round enough and the sand dunes definitely didn't help. It was getting stuck after every kick. The kids were mostly laughing at Danny, but they were definitely having fun.<p>

"Daniel!" Sarah called out after a long while of watching, "Wouldn't you be better off teaching them beach volleyball?"

Danny's eyes lit up at the suggestion and she heard him send the kids to find some large sticks and some spare fishing net. As soon as they had run off, Danny's eyes turned back to Sarah and he gave her a nod and grin before making his way over and sitting next to her on the log, draping his arm over her shoulder.

"She's brilliant, isn't she?" he spoke to Miriam in Hebrew.

Sarah blushed a bit and she could seen that Miriam was a bit unsure how to respond, but Danny didn't really notice, his attention was already back on Sarah as he reached to twirl a stray piece of her hair around his finger. "Brilliant, _and_ beautiful," he whispered to her in English this time, kissing her cheek.

Sarah smiled, pleased, but then pushed him back with a chuckle. "Stop it, Danny, you're embarrassing Miriam, and for that matter, me. Go back to your game!"

Danny winked at her and flashed her a goofy grin as he ran back to retie the ball and help the arriving kids set up the net.

Miriam was watching Sarah curiously, and when Danny took off she spoke. "I've never heard a woman be called brilliant before. What did you yell to him in your language?"

Sarah laughed, "I only suggested a different ball game he knows, one that would work better in the sand."

Miriam shook her head and laughed, "Sometimes, Sarah, I think your husband is crazy."

Sarah chuckled, "And all the time, Miriam, I know he is."

* * *

><p>About three hours later Danny's game had become so popular that they'd set up a couple more nets and made a few more balls so that the men of the community could try too. Even so, there were more teams than nets and they had to take turns. Sarah noticed that while all the children joined in, both male and female, none of the grown women did, so she sat on the sidelines watching and cheering loudly for Danny's team, much to Miriam's amusement.<p>

When Danny's team had their first shift off, he jogged over to her and asked if she wanted to play his spot next round so she could have a turn too. Sarah shook her head, "I don't think it's a woman's game here, Danny."

"Sarah, it's anybody's game. Nobody knew about it a few hours ago, we can make it a game for whoever we want to. Maybe if you played, knowing the game, more women would join in. And trust me, the men won't mind; we love watching women's beach volleyball."

Sarah hit him and rolled her eyes, "_Fine,_ I'll play, _if_ you play against me. I wanna kick your butt."

Danny raised his eyebrows, "Really? How about a private match? One-on-one, loser has to set up the tent themselves for the next week."

Sarah burst out laughing, "What kind of a prize is that? We both stink at the tent thing. Winner should _not _have to sleep in a tent that's gonna fall on their head."

"Good point, what's the wager then?"

"Loser has to carry twice the load next time we move and winner gets off scotch free for a day."

"You're on," Danny said and then let out a whoop as he ran off towards the make-do courts. He stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Immediately everyone watching and playing stopped and turned to him.

Danny grinned, clearly loving the fact that he had an audience. "Sorry to interrupt," he said, "but my wife thinks she can beat me at this game."

Sarah heard a couple of surprised exclamations, including one from Miriam who sat at her side giving Sarah an odd look.

Danny continued, "So, we need one of the nets and balls to ourselves for a round, if you don't mind. Whoever loses between us two will be carrying all the baggage next time around. Feel free to watch and cheer for whomever you want."

Sarah shook her head and rolled her eyes, but she stepped forward when Danny beckoned to her and noticed that the crowd had cleared off not just one net for them, but all three; everyone wanted to watch this. Danny handed her the ball to let her serve first.

"You're going down, Danny!" she said with a grin.

"Hey," Danny said, "I played me some v-ball in high school."

Sarah raised her eyebrows as she served the ball and got the first point a second later. "I played in university _and _I'm a lot more used to running in a skirt than you."

Danny burst out laughing, "I'm getting quite used to wearing these silly dresses myself, actually. Did you not see me play earlier?"

"Still, I've worn skirts for years, Danny, and in case you hadn't noticed: I'm winning."

* * *

><p>An hour later, Danny finally admitted his defeat. The score was actually quite close, but he just couldn't seem to ever catch up or even reach a draw. He stepped under the net and gave her a congratulatory hug. "You're amazing, Sare," he told her.<p>

"Not bitter then?"

"I'm gonna say no, but ask me again when I'm carrying your bags," he laughed.

Sarah grinned and made her way back to the sidelines where a few dozen people all laughed and told her congratulations. She sat beside Miriam as the original teams took their places again.

Miriam smiled at her, "You know, every person here was cheering for_ you._"

Sarah chuckled, "Oh I can't wait to tell Daniel that one. Why don't you play, Miriam?"

Miriam's eyes widened, "Me? I don't think so."

"Why not? It's fun. Danny'll teach you."

"Danny?"

"Daniel, sorry, nickname."

Miriam smiled, "I noticed that word a lot actually, when you spoke in your language. I didn't know it was a name."

"He prefers it over Daniel," Sarah admitted, "But we thought it was unusual here to use a nickname."

Miriam burst out laughing, "But _Sarah_, everyone here knows you're both unusual anyway!"

Sarah smiled, "True that. But go on, give the game a shot."

Miriam nodded, "I'd like to, but I'd better ask my husband what he thinks. I'll be back."

Sarah watched as Miriam moved over to where a group of men stood talking. She'd met Miriam's husband, Merari, on a few occasions and he seemed nice enough. He treated Miriam generally well, but he wasn't affectionate with her at all. Sarah saw Miriam point to her as she spoke with him, and then she saw Merari shrug and nod. Miriam came running back.

"He said he'd let me, since no one saw anything wrong when you played!"

Sarah grinned, "Great, c'mon, let's get you on a team."

"You'll play again too, won't you Sarah? On my team this time?"

Sarah nodded, "Of course, and maybe this time we can play on Danny's team."

Miriam giggled, "That's a good plan; with the two of you playing together, we'll be unbeatable."

Sarah nodded, "You bet."

* * *

><p>Sarah yawned as Danny pulled her into his embrace for the night. Danny kissed her forehead tenderly. "I wonder if, when we get back home," he said, "the history books will have changed to include the fact that Israelites, men and women, were huge volleyball fans."<p>

Sarah giggled, "And they even called it by the English name. Who knew that game had an Israeli origin?"

Danny chuckled, "You know, I was pretty proud of you today, Sarah. Everyone was cheering for you."

Sarah sat up, surprised. "That's what Miriam said, but I was too focused on the game to notice."

Danny laughed, "Well that's why you deserved your win. Personally I kept getting distracted by the fact that I have the prettiest woman here for my wife."

Sarah laughed and lay back down, "Only, you know we aren't really married, Danny."

A small flicker of surprise swept across Danny's face, but then he chuckled, "Yeah, I know it, but I forget sometimes. Feels real sometimes."

Sarah smiled at the thought. "Yep," she agreed, "I s'ppose I forget sometimes too."

He grinned at her, "Good. We could just forget, both of us, for real, Sare. We could be here forever, for all we know. What if we just agreed to live here?"

Sarah shook her head, "No, Danny. We're going to find another anomaly soon, and it won't take us home. It'll take us back to the Middle Eocene era. To be honest, I don't really want to go through it, but we have to, because as much as I love it here, it's not home, and the ARC needs us, and, I'm not ready to just give up on seeing Abby, Connor, Becker and even Lester again."

Danny looked at her, puzzled. "Sarah, how do you know that?"

Sarah sighed, "Because, Danny, I've been figuring out what time period we're in and there's a certain Sun Cage in Egypt with a reoccurring anomaly just waiting for us when we get there."


	14. About the Sun Cage

Danny rolled over onto his side, propping his head up on his elbow so he could see Sarah better. "Sarah, why didn't you say something earlier?"

Sarah sighed, "It only occurred to me a couple of days ago and I guess I just wanted to enjoy the time we had here. To be honest, the thought of stepping back into dangerous territory on our own, it bothered me a bit. We've got friends here, Danny. I didn't want to bother you with the thought too."

Danny nodded and kissed her forehead before speaking, "Thank-you, Sarah, but to be honest I wish you'd told me: especially if it was something that was bothering you. It's better to talk sometimes, okay? And don't forget, even if we step through, we've got a friend, we're together, right?"

Sarah nodded, "Always."

Danny lay down again for about half a moment before shooting straight up, "Sarah, maybe that anomaly will go home! We found it in _our_ time period, yeah?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, Danny. First off, _I _found it in our time period,_ you_ weren't there. And second, I don't know how thoroughly you've read the mission reports but trust me, that was Ammut that came through, not Pharaoh."

Danny laughed, "Yes but… how does an anomaly from Egypt to the Eocene end up in our time then?"

"We're on the same side of it as the Egypt side, it's a reoccurring anomaly that's lasted many centuries, that's all, Danny."

"But Sarah, I _did _read the field reports and your Ammut was used to people bowing to it, as well as the warm Nile water. Everything indicated that your Ammut had been living in Egypt already. I assumed it came through to there from another anomaly."

Sarah frowned deeply, "But… Danny, that doesn't make sense at all. I mean, it does, you're right, but there's something really wrong with that logic."

"Oh?"

"I can't put my finger on it just yet, but I will. Trust me though, that anomaly leads to the Eocene… and I'll sleep on it and tell you why in the morning."

Danny laughed, "Okay then, good night, Sarah."

"Danny?"

"Yep?"

"If it did lead to the museum, then we can't go through."

"What? Why? We'd be back, Sarah!"

"No, we'd be a year and a half in the past. We'd be in a time period where _we_ already exist. There'd be two of us, Danny. That'd really mess up the time line, wouldn't it?"

Danny sighed, "You're right, but to be so close to being home? To see everyone again? Sarah, how could we not? And think of what we could change? We'd know in advance to keep Helen away from Cutter."

"And then we'd really be messing up the timeline, Danny. I miss him too, but we can't play with things like that. Anyway, there's no point talking about it, is there? _This_ anomaly leads to the Eocene. Just trust me."

Danny nodded, "I always do, Sarah. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

><p>When Danny awoke, he found Sarah seated on the ground beside him, running her comb through her hair. He pulled himself up so that he was sitting and took it from her, moving behind her to re-plait her hair.<p>

She didn't say anything and when he finished he moved so he could see her face again, "Sarah? Did you figure it out?"

"I think so. Maybe. Just an idea though.

"Try me."

Sarah nodded, "Okay, it seems to me that the anomalies don't always stay in the exact same time, at least not the reoccurring ones. For example, if you read the reports from the Permian era anomaly, well, it was always in the same place in our time, right? But it wasn't always in the same time. When Cutter went back through after it reopened, well then they were a few years back before the first time they'd gone through that same anomaly. It… changed, on the other side. I don't know how it went backwards, but it did."

"Right," Danny said, following her train of thought.

"For the museum anomaly, the fixed point isn't in our time, it's in the Eocene. If we were in the Eocene and went through, we wouldn't know if we were going to come out at home, or in Egypt, or in the future in North Korea for that matter. It could be any time. The only thing we know is that the anomaly stays with the sun cage, so it'll be sometime where you can find that. Those prisichampus had been going back and forth for awhile between the Eocene and Egypt, they probably used the anomaly quite often and that's how they knew Egypt, but it was still the Eocene that they came through from."

Danny nodded, "That makes sense, I think."

"It's like I said, it just recurs in our time once in awhile, but it recurs quite often in the Eocene."

"So if we go through it to the Eocene, let it close, and then hang around the anomaly site, the next time it occurs it could go home?"

"Which is exactly why we shouldn't do that. We discussed this last night, Danny. We can't go home that way, and the temptation would be too great. We need to forget about that anomaly."

"But it could also lead to North Korea a month from now our time, for all we know and we could fly back."

Sarah shook her head, "Or it could open in North Korea two million years later, we don't know when it'll occur next in our time, if it ever does. Anyway, I don't think Korea has the same policy about not shooting on sight and I'd prefer not to be killed when we make it back, Danny. I really think we have to find a different route back. And we will, Danny, one day we'll get home. I promise. Just, not this way."

"Okay," Danny finally accepted. "It just, it feels like a tie from home I guess."

"But it's not."

Danny nodded and stood, pulling Sarah to her feet with him and then into her arms. He held her in a tight hug for a moment, and when he pulled away, Sarah noticed the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

"Danny?"

He shook his head, "I'm fine, Sare. I just really miss everyone."

"Me too," she nodded, "But there's more than likely a crowd of kids waiting for us out there, so how about we put on a more cheerful look and go greet them?"

Danny flashed her a grin and nodded his agreement.

* * *

><p>Five more weeks went by and neither Danny nor Sarah brought up the topic of the Sun Cage anomaly again. Neither of them really felt the need to talk about it. She'd noticed that, while they still travelled towards Egypt, they'd been taking more breaks and it wasn't because the Israelites were tired, it was because they wanted to have a daily volleyball tournament. Sarah joined in once in awhile, but usually she sat back and watched and cheered for Danny.<p>

Right now they were actually walking though and Sarah was chatting amicably with Miriam about Job and Alexandra while Danny was further up in the crowd discussing something or other with Barachi in his ever improving Hebrew. Suddenly as Sarah crossed over a larger sand dune, she noticed something and gasped. Leaving Miriam mid-sentence, she ran do Danny's side.

"Danny, look due east, do you see something?" she asked him in excited English.

Danny looked the way she was pointing and his mouth dropped in surprise at the tiny triangular peak lifted above the horizon. "Pyramids," he said, confirming her thoughts in one word.

Sarah nodded and Danny reached for her hand, squeezing it tightly. "Ancient Egypt, Sare. You've always longed to see that, eh?"

Sarah nodded, "Yes, but Danny… I don't want us to leave yet."

"I know, Sare. We have to, if we can. We don't necessarily know the anomaly will be open right now, but…"

"I think it will be," Sarah said quietly, "I just… I think it will be. If not right away, it will be soon."

Danny nodded, "Yep, I feel it too. I think you're right. Still there's quite a long ways to go and we have to actually find the sun cage."

Sarah chuckled, "If there's an anomaly, that won't be hard. We still have your detector."

Danny winced, "Yeah, I'd forgotten that. How on earth are we going to explain the beeping sound to these guys as we get closer?"

Sarah chuckled, "Not a clue, maybe just act like we can't hear it, yeah?"

Danny burst out laughing, "Somehow I don't think that'll work, Sare." He glanced behind them at a group of kids that were playing with Molly-Spratt and King and gestured toward them. "Think we should leave them here? The kids would take care of them probably better than we can."

Sarah hesitated, "I suppose, but I did want to return Molly-Spratt to her owner one day and I'm not sure the Egyptians will like her so much."

"What's not to like about Molly-Spratt?"

"They worship cats, Danny, and she's likely to chase them."

"Right, so we keep her. And King?"

"Same as always. King feeds himself, so he's free to come or stay as he pleases, but I have a feeling he'll follow us, or at least, he'll follow Molly-Spratt. They're friends, Danny."

"Like us?" He asked with a grin.

Sarah shook her head, "Course not. We're better friends than they are."

Danny hesitated a moment and then spoke in a soft question, "And maybe even a little bit more than friends too?"

Sarah smiled. "Yeah, maybe a little," she admitted, teasingly.

Danny squeezed her hand tighter and tried unsuccessfully to hide his smirk as he stared ahead at the pyramid in view. "Good," he replied nonchalantly, and Sarah rolled her eyes with a chuckle as she went back to staring at the pyramid too.


	15. The Egypt Box

Sarah and Danny hadn't been the only ones to notice the golden triangular peaks rising against the sun. Soon everyone was excitedly talking and pointing and Danny noticed that the group's pace sped up a bit now that they had their destination in sight. Still, he expected that the distance was further than it appeared and that they would not reach it without at least one more night of camping in the desert.

The anomaly detector was still silent, so far, and Danny wasn't sure if that meant they were too far away, or if the Sun Cage anomaly just wasn't open at the moment. Neither he nor Sarah spoke of it for the moment, content to just enjoy the time they had left with their new friends. Danny knew that Sarah would especially have trouble saying goodbye to Miriam.

The Israelites walked longer into the evening than they usually did, but when the first stars appeared in the still lit sky they stopped as usual for the night and Danny had trouble seeing that they were any closer to the pyramids than they had been when they'd first spotted them several hours earlier.

"How long do you think it'll take to get there?" he asked Sarah as they set up their tent together as best as they could.

Sarah shrugged, "I dunno. Two, three days, maybe."

"That long?"

"It's just a guess. It's not like we're travelling very fast. There's two many animals and kids with us."

"Perhaps, but I'm sure your guess is correct. It always is."

Sarah flashed him a grin as Danny finished tying his side of the tent down. Then he sat back to watch her struggle with her own side. He'd been telling her the truth when he'd said he thought she was beautiful, he'd always thought so, but somehow he thought she looked prettier each day. It was probably his heart talking. He knew they were moving extremely slowly in their relationship, but he wasn't worried that she might not feel the same way as him anymore, it just felt proper to move slow in this world where deadlines didn't exist and you had all the time in the world to do nothing at all.

Sarah looked over her shoulder at Danny, "Are you gonna help me, or just sit there and grin at me?"

Danny shrugged, "Still debating that one, actually. You're kind of fun to watch."

Sarah swatted at him and moved over so that there was room for him to give her a hand. Danny took the hint and came to help. When the tent was completed, they moved to join the others by the bonfire. Immediately, Miriam moved to join them, handing them a bowl of soup and some milk and laying down some more for Molly-Spratt. Sarah chatted with her for a bit and Danny pretended to be interested, but honestly he was lost in thought about what might await them on the other side of the Sun Cage anomaly. It wasn't until he heard Sarah switch to English that he gave her his full attention.

"Danny, can I tell her?"

Danny hesitated, knowing what she meant; she wanted to tell Miriam about the anomalies, about where they were from, and that they'd be leaving soon. "Sare, she won't believe you. She'll just think you've gone mad."

Sarah signed and nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I guess I'll just say we're leaving soon to find our way home. It's just… she's a good friend and I wish she knew the truth."

Danny nodded, "Then I'll leave it up to you, Sare. I won't stop you, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Thanks. I'm not certain yet, but I think I'll talk to her tonight about leaving."

She turned back to Miriam and asked if she'd join her for a walk. Danny stayed behind, knowing Sarah meant to say her goodbye in private in case she didn't get the chance later. As the girls stood up though, he said to them in Hebrew, "Don't go out of shouting distance!"

"We won't," Sarah promised as they walked away.

* * *

><p>Sarah stared up at the stars in the now dark sky as she listened to Miriam tell her about Amit and Alexandria and all their antics. She thought hard about what Danny had said; he was right. Who would believe that they were from the future? The anomaly detector showed no sign of an anomaly yet and even if she could prove it to Miriam, she wasn't sure that it was right to demand her friend keep such a large secret for the rest of her life.<p>

"Miriam," she said suddenly, "Danny and I have been talking and we might not stay once we reach Egypt."

Miriam sighed sadly, "Oh, Sarah!"

"It's just, we want to find our way home eventually. We don't belong here, Miriam. We're so grateful for everything you've done for us, but we belong with our own people."

Miriam nodded, "To be honest, I've expected as much for awhile. Everything you've told me about London sounds so wonderful that I knew you'd want to return eventually. I was just wishing that I was wrong."

Sarah reached over and gave Miriam a hug. They clung to each other and wept openly for a short time before drying their tears and laughing at themselves.

"Sarah," Miriam said with a smile, "I'd go with you if it wasn't for my family."

"I know," Sarah nodded. "We'd have welcomed you."

* * *

><p>When Sarah got back, she found that Danny was still seated by the fire waiting for her. Most of the others had left to their tents for the night. Sarah sat in the sand beside him, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them, her arms wrapping around her legs. Immediately, she felt Danny's hand press flat against her back.<p>

"You didn't have to wait up for me," she told him.

"I know," Danny replied. They both fell silent for a moment and then Danny spoke again. "Did you tell her?"

"No. I just told her we might be leaving soon. You were right about that."

"You're really gonna miss her, aren't you?" It wasn't really a question.

"Yeah, you're great and all Danny, but it was nice to have another woman around. Makes me miss Abby even more though. I need a best gal pal I can tell all my secrets too, and I couldn't do that with Miriam due to the nature of those secrets."

Danny laughed, "Still, we're best friends, Sare. You can tell me your secrets."

"More than friends," Sarah reminded him with a grin.

"Yep," Danny replied, kissing her ear.

To his surprise, Sarah suddenly turned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in the crook of his neck and letting out a sob. Danny pulled her closer, wrapping one arm around his back and using the other hand to play with her plait. "What's wrong, Sarah?" he asked her quietly.

"I miss home," she answered. "I'm so lonely sometimes, Danny, and I know we haven't left these people yet but it's the thought that's hard. I'll probably be fine once we've actually gone and just need to concentrate on survival again."

Danny didn't answer as he continued to hold her and play with her hair.

* * *

><p>For most of the next day, Sarah stayed close to Danny. She didn't know why, but the thought of leaving soon put her in a bit of a clingy mood and surprisingly it was Danny she wanted to be with even more than Miriam. Danny was her link to home.<p>

Still, she knew she'd miss her friend and regret it if she didn't spend some time with her, so she sought Miriam out in the late afternoon to walk with her for a short while before they stopped for the night.

* * *

><p>It was soon after Sarah had left his side that Danny heard the small, soft, beeping of the anomaly detector start up. He distanced himself from the others for a bit so they wouldn't hear it. He still wasn't sure how he planned on explaining the noise that would become obvious later. He wished Sarah was there to give him some ideas.<p>

An hour later it had grown loud enough that a few of the others close to him, including Job, had begun to notice. Danny motioned for Job to come closer and then whispered for the boy to fetch Sarah for him.

* * *

><p>Sarah was giggling with Miriam as they watched a tiny girl trying to race with Molly-Spratt and King, when Job came running up to her.<p>

"Excuse me!" he interrupted. "Mrs Sarah, your husband needs you. He is making a strange sound."

Miriam and Sarah glanced at Job, perplexed.

"What sort of sound?" Sarah asked.

Job hesitated, clearly unsure how to describe it, and then resorted to imitation. "Blip, blip, blip, blip…"

Sarah understood instantly and she turned tail and ran back to find Danny, followed closely by Job and Miriam.

Sarah and Danny exchanged a troubled look when they reached him, both clearly unsure what to say, but Sarah finally shrugged and told him to take the detector out of the backpack so they could see how stable the anomaly was.

Danny did so, realising that they'd have to explain it either way. It grew instantly louder when he pulled it from his bag and Sarah wasn't the only one who moved close to take a look.

"The reading is strong," she said in English. "I wonder if the Sun Cage is even closer to us than the pyramids."

"Possible," he replied, ignoring the many questions from the group of about ten that were now surrounding them.

Finally Sarah decided that she had to say something, so she blurted out in Hebrew, "It's an Egypt box. It makes funny noises when we are close to Egypt. Our friend Connor invented it." She knew the explanation was ridiculously silly, but it was the first thing that had popped into her head. She saw Danny quickly try to mask his laughter.

"It's a bit pointless though," he added, also in Hebrew, "Since we could see the pyramids long before it started making sounds. If we ever see Connor again, we'll tell him to make it start beeping much sooner."

"But how does it work? How does it know? How does the box make that noise?" Job asked eagerly, obviously fascinated by the new device.

Sarah shook her head, "We don't know. If Connor were here, he could tell you. He likes to invent things that no one else understands."

"I'd like to meet this Connor," one of the men said, someone whose name Sarah didn't know.

Danny shook his head, "Trust me, you'll find trouble wherever Connor is. You're just as well not knowing him."

Sarah giggled and nodded her agreement, but added on, still in Hebrew, "Oh c'mon, Danny. You like him well enough. He's not _that _bad."

"I do," Danny agreed, "And I miss him. But you know I like to tease."

To Danny's amazement, it was Miriam rather than Sarah that called him out on the comment. She wasn't usually so bold around the men. "We know you tease," she said. "You're both unusual, but you, Danny, are also crazy."

Sarah burst out laughing, "I agree with Miriam."

Danny harrumphed, but then laughed too, "Fine," he told Miriam, "I plead guilty to insanity, but crazy is fun."

Miriam giggled and Sarah had the feeling she was proud of herself for being confident enough to tease him back, as it wasn't normal in their society for a woman to do so.

"Does it do anything else?" Job asked, bringing Danny's attention back to the detector.

Danny shook his head, "No."

"Can you stop it?" Asked a woman that Sarah had only spoken to a few times, she thought her name was Eliza. "It's rather annoying."

Again Danny answered, "No, Sorry."

"So you're just going to keep going blip blip blip the entire time we're in Egypt?" Job asked incredulously.

"Possibly," Danny replied, "But no fret, Sarah and I will be leaving soon to find our own home."

Sarah glared at Danny when she saw the devastated look on Job's face.

"Oh," Job said, turning suddenly and walking away.

Sarah switched to English. "You could've told him a bit gentler than that, Danny. The boy adores you," she scolded.

Danny nodded, "Sorry, it slipped out. I'll talk to him."

Sarah snatched the detector from his hand and nodded toward Job's shrinking figure. "Good, go catch up to him. I'll hold on to this so it isn't a distraction."

Danny nodded again and went after Job and Sarah turned back to the few people who were still staring, fascinated with the detector and surprised by Danny's announcement.

"Can't you just smash the thing?" Eliza asked, clearly not liking the strange black box. Sarah thought maybe she was a bit scared by it and didn't want to admit it.

Sarah smiled and shook her head, "No, it was a gift from Connor. It's a little piece of home."

The others nodded understandingly and Miriam smiled at Sarah, "I'll stay by your side until you leave, even if you do make strange noises now."

Sarah grinned at her, "Thanks, Miriam. You're a good friend."

* * *

><p>Job didn't get too far before Danny caught up with him. He looked straight ahead, ignoring Danny, and Danny knew why when he saw the glistening tears in Job's eyes. Danny ordered Job to follow him away from the rest of the group so that Job wouldn't have to be embarrassed if he cried. To his relief, Job followed.<p>

"We'll catch up with them in a bit," Danny said. "I just wanted to apologize to you. I should've told you earlier we'd be leaving soon."

Job nodded, "It's fine. I shouldn't have reacted like that."

"You did nothing wrong," Danny answered. "I'm going to miss you."

"You can't stay?"

"I miss my home now, and so does Sarah. We like it here, Job, but we belong somewhere else and you belong here."

"If my travels bring me to London, can I look for you?"

"Sure," Danny agreed, knowing it would never happen.

"Daniel?" Job asked suddenly, wiping his eyes and purposefully changing the subject, "My uncle tells me I should marry soon. What do you think of Miriam's daughter?"

Danny hesitated, not knowing how to advise Job on the subject since he felt the boy was so young. Finally he shrugged, "I think she'd be a good match for you, and Miriam would be a terrific mother-in-law. Sarah tells me that Miriam is awfully fond of you."

"So you think I should propose?"

Danny sighed, "Where I come from, people wait until they are much older to marry. It seems strange to me for one to marry at your age. However, in your culture, it's normal and if you decide to wait, you might miss out on Alexandra who will choose someone else. The choice is yours."

"I'll ask for her hand when you leave. It'll give me something to look forward to after you've gone," Job decided.

Danny nodded, "Then congratulations in advance."

They both fell silent for a moment and then suddenly Danny spoke again, "You know, Job, a very long time ago I had a younger brother and sometimes you remind me of him. He was your age when I last saw him."

Job looked at Danny, interested. "Did he die?"

Danny shrugged, "I don't know. He just never came home one day."

"Maybe he ran away to get married since he'd be too young in London."

Danny chuckled, "No, not Patrick. He wasn't interested in marriage yet."

"Patrick? That's a strange name."

Danny grinned, remembering that Sarah had made him go by Daniel instead of Danny for that very reason. "I suppose it is, but I guess I come from a strange family."

"Sure; you think your lizard is the King," Job grinned at him, teasingly.

Danny burst out laughing, "It was Sarah as named the lizard. I named Molly."

"Another strange name."

"Wanna know a secret?" Danny asked.

"Yes, of course."

"Even in London, people think I'm crazy."

It was Job's turn to laugh then. Then Danny glanced in the direction of the group of travellers that were almost out of sight. "C'mon," he said. "We'd better catch up, yeah?"

Job nodded, "Should be easy to find your wife again. She'll be the one going blip, blip, blip."

Danny laughed and took off at a sprint, "Wanna race?"

Job was on his heels in a flash.


	16. Ancient Egypt

Sarah woke up a bit later than usual, judging by the warm temperature that came with the risen sun. She was lying with her back against Danny and his arms were around her, but she knew instantly that he was also awake by the circular pattern he was tracing over the back of her hand. She stayed put and silent, moving only her hand to turn it and grasp at his so that he'd know she was awake.

Danny responded by placing a soft kiss on her shoulder, but he also did not speak. They'd spoken already, for a long time, the night before. They'd worked out that they'd probably reach the Sun Cage anomaly before another nightfall and it made them both nervous. The anomaly detector was beeping loudly now, enough so that they'd buried it under a pile of sand and blankets for the night so they could get some sleep and they could still hear it. It felt weird, insane even, to be leaving their friends to walk into the middle of the Eocene area where they knew that danger awaited. It was different when they'd left home, they'd been following Helen and it'd been a necessity that they hadn't stopped to think about, but now it was just crazy. And yet, that was the plan and neither of them brought up the idea of staying anymore.

Sarah wondered, as she lay still, if this was the last time in a long time, maybe ever, that she'd wake up in the morning feeling safe and secure. She wanted the feeling to last a long time, but she knew they'd have to get up soon. Already she could hear the impatient cries of the children outside calling for, "Sleepyheads Mrs Sarah and Mr Danny," to hurry and come play.

Danny groaned as he finally stood up and he gave Sarah a look that clearly said he'd much rather stay here with her too, but the moment he left the tent his expression changed into a genuine grin as he went chasing after some of the teasing children in an impromptu game of tag. Sarah followed him outside the tent; she wasn't up to running around before breakfast so she made her way over to the ever-glowing bonfire to seek out Miriam and breakfast.

* * *

><p>As much as he enjoyed playing with the kids, Danny was hungry and it did not take him long to join the girls in their morning meal, leaving the children to play with Molly-Spratt and King.<p>

As soon as their bowls had been cleared, Miriam cleared her throat as if she had something to say, but then hesitated as though she wasn't sure she should.

"Alright then, out with it," Danny demanded encouragingly. "What's on your mind, Meer?"

Miriam stared at the shortening of her name, but then smiled, "You people and your names and nicknames, it's so funny. Meer? I like that, actually."

Danny flashed her a grin, "Good, but what did you want to say?"

Miriam blushed and took a deep breath before stating, "I was wondering what the Egypt Box is."

Sarah and Danny exchanged a puzzled look, as Miriam had been there when they'd made up their explanation a few days ago. It was Danny who replied, "It's a box that makes funny noises when you approach Egypt."

Miriam shook her head, "No, I don't mean what you _told _people it was. I want to know what it _really _is."

"How did you know?" Sarah asked her.

"Egypt," Miriam stated matter-of-factly as she pointed to the now obvious pyramids, "Is right there. And yet you both keep taking the box out and staring at it intently as if trying to figure something out by it."

Sarah grinned guiltily at her and then looked at Danny who shrugged his permission.

"Okay," Sarah said, "Can you keep a huge secret? If you don't want to live with it, and it's huge, then it's best for you not to know."

"I love secrets," Miriam said with a smile. "I won't tell a soul."

"C'mon then," Danny said, standing, "Let's go where we won't be overheard."

* * *

><p>They walked along the sand away from the group and Danny spoke to Sarah in English, "We can make something else up."<p>

Sarah shook her head, "No, Danny, she's been a real friend. I don't want to lie to her."

"She'll think you're crazy."

"I know. I wouldn't have said something, but since she's asking… I need to."

"Start small," he suggested. Sarah nodded and finally turned to Miriam.

"Okay," she said, switching into Hebrew. "The Egypt Box is actually called a…" she hesitated and then went on, "Well, actually, there's no word for it in your language."

Miriam gave her a look. "_That's_ your secret? That there is no Hebrew name for the Egypt Box? That's the most boring piece of gossip ever. I just want to know what it's for."

"It makes strange sounds when we get close to flickering balls of light, that also have no name in Hebrew," Sarah continued, "Or if they do, we don't know the word, sorry."

"So it's actually a Ball of Light Box?"

"Yes."

"And there's a Ball of Light in Egypt, presumably, by the racket it's been making."

"Yes."

"What's it look like?"

Danny answered this time. "Sort of like the sun, but much nearer to the earth, and it flickers."

"It's more like the sun shining through a bunch of pieces of broken glass," Sarah put in, "And they float in the air."

Miriam looked at them doubtfully, but still believingly at the same time. "I've never seen such a thing."

"They are rare."

"Do the Egyptians make them?"

"No, it's a natural force. But the Egyptians have found a way of containing one. They keep it in something called a Sun Cage because they think it is the sun that they have caught. They are wrong, it's not the sun."

"How do you know all this?"

"We've researched them. We studied them when we were back in London. Well, mostly Connor did that, but he told us what we needed to know."

"Can I come with you to see the one in the Sun Cage?"

Sarah looked at Danny and he nodded, "Yes, if it's still there. They appear and disappear, you know. But they are dangerous, you must stay far back and after you've seen it, leave."

"Dangerous? How?"

"Things come through them. Animals that will attack you."

Miriam looked puzzled, "How could an animal come through it, if it was not there behind it? What kind of animals?"

"Do you know of the Egyptian god Ammut?"

Miriam nodded, "Yes, I have heard their stories when we were there last."

"Ammut lives behind the one in the Sun Cage and sometimes comes through. Some have other ones. Even things like the Leviathan or the Behemoth."

Miriam looked frightened then, but she asked again, "But how? Where does it come from?"

"From inside them. They have other places inside them."

"I don't understand," Miriam said.

"It is confusing," Sarah agreed. "You can't see inside them and you can walk around them, but if you go through them, you end up somewhere else."

"Have _you _ever gone through?" Miriam asked incredulously.

"Yes," Sarah admitted, "Many times. I wouldn't recommend it."

"Where is the other place? What is it like?"

Sarah shrugged, "It doesn't always lead to the same place. Sometimes it leads to the other side of the world, sometimes it leads to the same place you are in, but a different time."

"Time?"

"The past or the future," Danny answered, "Usually they lead to a different place in a different time. Usually it's the past."

Miriam looked even more confused than before. "Are you telling me a joke?" She asked.

Sarah shook her head, "No, but I know it's a bit much to take in. It took me awhile to get used to the idea when I first found out about them too."

"Anyway," Danny said, giving her a goofy grin, "It's even more impossible that _this _honest face could be lying to you, don't you think?"

Miriam looked at him strangely, but Sarah giggled and suddenly leaned over and kissed his cheek. Danny stared at her, surprised and asked in English, "What was that for?"

Sarah shrugged with a smile, "Nothing, I just felt like it."

He gave her one more puzzled glance before turning back to Miriam and launching into lecture about how important it was that she kept everything a secret. Sarah tuned it out a bit, still smiling to herself as she remembered that it was the first time Danny had shown her his "honest face" expression that she'd known she fancied him.

* * *

><p>A few hours later they were on the move and Danny had gone off on a race with some of the kids. Sarah was walking with Miriam, but Miriam was silent and Sarah could see the wheels in her head spinning as she tried to process what she'd been told. After a long time, she turned to Sarah and spoke quietly.<p>

"What was on the other side of the Light Balls that you've been through?"

Sarah shrugged, "Desert sometimes, forest others. Big creatures, giant insects, etc."

"Do you like going through them?"

"No."

"Then why are you trying so hard to get to one?"

"We're trying to find our way home."

Miriam's eyes widened with the revelation. "You're not from this side?"

"No. London's somewhere else. On the other side of one, but we don't know which one. So we just keep travelling through trying to find the right one. It's not this one, not the one in Egypt, but maybe it'll be the next one."

"Is London in a different time?"

Sarah nodded, "Yes. We're about four thousand years in the future from here."

Miriam shivered, "That's… so weird."

"I'm surprised you believe us."

"I don't know if I do." She stated bluntly.

"You will."

* * *

><p>As evening fell, Danny returned to Sarah's side, the handheld detector stowed in his bag because the noise was too loud to ignore anymore.<p>

"Sarah," Danny said to her softly, taking her hand, "I'm about to make your dreams come true."

Sarah raised her eyebrows, amused. "Is that so?"

Danny nodded, and tugged at her hand to get her to follow him a bit to the side. They walked until they had reached a small line of palm trees and then Danny stopped her and smiled. "Savour the moment, Sare. One more step and you are officially in ancient Egypt."

Sarah bit her lip as she realised the implications, but took her step toward Danny quickly. "Well," she said, "I did it. We're here now."

"Yep, we're here."

"And the Sun Cage?"

Danny pulled the detector from his bag and then nodded, "Close. Very close. I'm guessing it's within a five minutes from here."

Sarah glanced back at the group of Israelites that were a few metres away. They'd also stopped, before crossing the border, to set up their tents. Sarah knew they'd camp just outside the borders for the night and head to the Egyptian market come morning. "One more night?" she asked.

Danny shook his head, "It could close before then, Sarah. And why delay it?"

"You're right."

"Am I? I don't feel so sure."

"You are," Sarah said with a reassuring smile, "And anyway, you're team leader, aren't you? You get to make the decisions."

"Not much of a team left. I bet back home they've hired someone new by now."

"They can do what they want, Danny, I'll always follow your lead."

"Even when we get home and someone else has my position?"

Sarah nodded, "Always."

"Good." He squeezed her hand and smiled, "We should re-pack. Take what we really need and decide what to leave. Or at least put all the important things in one bundle so that we can ditch the other if we need to."

Sarah nodded, "Yeah."

"And we should tell Miriam and Job and Barachi and everyone that we're going."

"And Eliza and Merari, and Amit and Alexandra," Sarah whispered, naming off all the friends that they'd be leaving behind.

"Yep," Danny nodded. Then suddenly he smiled at her and as their eyes met, she saw the excitement in his. "We're really gonna do this, Sare, aren't we? It'll be you and I together on a daring adventure through time. Sounds exciting, yeah? We'll see places no one has seen and set foot in eras that no one has walked. What could possibly go wrong?"

Sare grinned, trust Danny to make a bad idea sound great. "Alright, then," she said, "Let's go. I'm following you, remember?"

Danny nodded and stepped forward back toward the camp so they could repack and make their public goodbye.


	17. Stepping Through

The news that Sarah and Danny would be leaving soon had, of course, spread through the group quickly. Still, there was somewhat of a surprise that they were going so suddenly and a few people tried to persuade them to stay a few more days. When it became clear that their pleadings were to no avail, they started heaping goodbye presents upon them and thanking them for teaching them the wonderful game of volleyball. Merari had given them each a long colourful coat for being "so kind to his wife." Sarah had to refrain herself from laughing and pointing out that it was Miriam that had befriended her first with her offer of goat's meat stew.

They decided to repack their items once they got through the anomaly, that way they wouldn't insult any of their friends if they had to ditch a few of their gifts. There was only so many things they could carry while running from dinosaurs, after all. Merari had given Miriam permission to walk with them a little ways if she returned within the hour. She'd wanted to see the Sun Cage for herself.

The three of them walked together, followed by Molly-Spratt and King, along a road of hard-pounded sand as they followed the co-ordinates on the handheld detector.

"What's the Eocene gonna be like?" Danny asked suddenly, turning toward Sarah.

Sarah frowned. "I don't know. Do I _look _like Connor?" she asked pointedly.

Danny chuckled, "Sorry. And no, you're much prettier than Connor."

Miriam giggled, "I wish Connor had come with you guys. I'd like to meet him. Is he as unusual as the two of you?"

"Oh much more so," Sarah laughed. "He's crazier than the rest of the team put together."

"Team?"

"The group of us that study the Balls of Light."

"How many are on your team?"

"Well, there's us two and Connor and then there is Abigail, Becker and Lester. At least that's who was on the team when we got lost. It's been a long time, so they might have a new team to replace us by now. Connor and Abby, that's Abigail's nickname, might be lost too."

"Why do you think that?" Miriam asked.

Sarah's mind was elsewhere though and she didn't answer, instead changing the subject. "Guys, where _is_ this thing? The detector says we should be within ten feet of it now, but I don't see _anything_."

Danny stopped walking and took the detector from her to see if he could make something out that she was missing. Suddenly he laughed, "Sarah, you're a historian, you should know this. Ammut was the god of death right? Or something like that?"

"Something like," Sarah responded, refraining from going into a history lecture right then and there.

"The Sun Cage," Danny said with a smirk, "Is in a tomb."

"What?"

"Why do you think Ammut was connected with death?" Danny gestured to the large pyramid they'd been walking along side. "It's in there, just behind these walls."

"Brilliant," Sarah muttered. "How do we get in?"

Miriam stared at them, "You aren't seriously thinking of entering a tomb, are you?"

"We have to," Sarah answered. "You don't have to come."

Miriam hesitated, but then shrugged, "No, if you're going in, I will too. The entrance should be just on the other side."

"Then let's go," Danny said, leading the way.

They walked around to the far side and Sarah's face lit up when then did. "Danny, look!" she suddenly pointed. "They're just building the Sphinx!"

"And it even has a nose…" Danny answered, almost as awestruck and enthusiastic as she at the sight.

Miriam looked from Danny to Sarah and then asked puzzled, "Why wouldn't it have a nose?"

"It doesn't anymore, in the time period we're from. It broke off. No one's ever seen it with one."

Miriam's eyes widened, "You mean it's still here in four thousand years?"

"Aye, the pyramids are too."

"That's incredible!"

"It is really," Sarah agreed. "Now here's the entrance, and it's open, that's odd. Should we go in?"

Danny led the way again. Miriam was visibly nervous and clung to Sarah's arm as the entered the dark tunnel of the tomb. To be honest, Danny was a bit nervous in the place himself, but Sarah was too excited by this opportunity to be thinking about Ammut or ghosts of kings. She wished she had a torch so she could look better at the golden statues and heaps of jewels and especially the engravings and paintings on the walls.

After a while of staring upon the tunnels of wealth, she suddenly asked, "Where are the guards? Why is no body here?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Danny replied. "Someone should be here to stop us from entering and stealing this all."

Miriam looked at them in horror, "Guards? They don't need guards! No one in their right minds would take this gold! It is cursed and haunted by the dead! The dead guard their own treasure. No one else but you would even dream of entering. I wouldn't if it wasn't for your flickering ball of light story."

Sarah chided herself mentally for not having thought of that. She turned to Miriam. "Hey, you gonna be alright by yourself on the way back?"

Miriam nodded, "I'll manage. I'm learning to be crazy from you two after all."

Danny chuckled, "Good plan, learning from the Masters. Just don't get yourself into too much trouble after we're gone."

"There it is!" Sarah suddenly pointed as they rounded the corner. Danny stopped walking and grinned at Miriam as he watched her reaction.

"Wow, it's beautiful!" she breathed after a moment of speechless hesitation.

"But also deadly if something comes through," Danny warned. "The moment we've gone you should return to the camp."

"How will you two survive then?"

"We've been trained to deal with the creatures," Sarah answered with far more confidence than what she was feeling and hoped that they actually would survive.

"Can I peek through?"

Danny moved to the anomaly and Miriam gasped when he suddenly disappeared. He was back a moment later, "Coast is clear, take a quick look then."

They all walked through together then, pets included. Miriam looked frightened and amazed at the same time as she entered the new world. Danny turned to her immediately, "There, you've seen it, but you should go back. I don't want you to get hurt or trapped."

Miriam nodded and gave Sarah a quick hug goodbye before scrambling through again, looking rather relieved to go. Sarah knew she'd been overwhelmed.

"Well," Sarah said, looking at Danny. "Here we are."

"Yep, here we are," he repeated, "Just the two of us again. The only humans around."

"It's a weird concept," Sarah replied. "We're the only humans on earth, but if we take three steps backwards, there are plenty more. It seems impossible."

"Maybe it is. Maybe this is all a dream."

"I don't think we'd get so hungry if it was a dream," Sarah grinned at him. Then she spun around taking in the environment, "And we'd best leave this anomaly site now and look around to see what we'll be eating here, yeah?"

Danny nodded and also turned to take in their surroundings. "Sorta swampy," he observed.

"Amazon-like almost…"

"Maybe it is the Amazon."

Sarah shrugged, "Maybe, but I think that tropical rainforest was more spread over the world at some points. Still, it's a good start. There's a lot growing here."

"Probably a lot living here too," Danny commented. He turned to Molly-Spratt and King, "You two stay close, we don't need you bringing home any more playmates, you hear?"

Sarah smiled, "And we definitely don't want them being chased back by something that thinks they look like lunch." Then she changed the subject as she continued with her observations. "It's warm here; I doubt we'll need so many blankets."

"Well, let's find a place to call home and then go through our things."

Sarah nodded as they reached for each other's hands and began to walk.


	18. The Mighty Jungle

While it had been nearing night in ancient Egypt, they'd stepped through into mid-morning Eocene time. They were tired, but the fact bode well for them as they'd be able to search out a safe place (if there were any) to sleep while it was still light enough for them to see their surroundings.

The ground was soft and, in some places, wet and swampy, and the air was hot. They were surrounded by thick jungle and it really was quite beautiful what with the large brightly coloured flowers in bloom, mostly oranges, pinks, purples and reds.

"This place is actually very romantic," Danny said with a flirtatious wink at Sarah.

Sarah agreed, but she knew better than to let thoughts of romance distract her. "And dangerous," she replied, "We have to be on our guard at all times, Danny. Unless we can find somewhere really, truly, safe, we might have to start setting a watch at night."

"Haven't seen any creatures yet though, have we?"

"I can hear them," Sarah responded, "Listen."

Danny stopped and listened to the noises and found that she was right. There were some distant roaring and also a lot of bird sounds and other animal chatter that sounded suspiciously like monkeys. And the insects. Danny didn't think he'd really realised how noisy insects could be, but there were so many here that you could almost hear them scurrying around in the trees and buzzing in the flowers.

"Shoulda packed bug spray," he commented. Sarah nodded her agreement as she stepped lightly across a stream that was blocking their path. Danny went to follow and then hesitated and grinned. Grabbing a vine that was hanging above them, he let out a yell and swung across like Tarzan.

"Stop it!" Sarah warned when he plopped down beside her. "You're alerting every creature around."

"Relax," Danny told her. "This place is so full of noise already, one more won't make a difference."

"I'm more worried about the snakes you're probably disturbing by swinging from their trees."

"You think there are snakes here?"

"Probably." As if on cue, a rather large looking one suddenly slithered across their path and Sarah jumped back, startled, grabbing onto Danny's arm. "Definitely," she revised her answer.

The snake seemed uninterested in them, not even glancing at them as it scurried along and Danny and Sarah kept going. King seemed to be enjoying himself and the climate and he flew from tree to tree nibbling on different growing fruits. Molly-Spratt, on the other hand, looked nervous and kept close to Danny's heels.

"I wonder if those fruits are edible for humans," Sarah said as she watched the lizard.

"Hopefully," Danny answered. "We'll have to try a very small amount first, but I think I'd rather take my chances on fruit than snake."

"No doubt."

* * *

><p>They walked in silence for a time after that. At one point the now faint sound of the anomaly detector stopped making a sound. Danny took it and backtracked a few metres, but it didn't start back up. He looked at Sarah, "It wasn't a range thing then, the Sun Cage anomaly must have closed."<p>

Sarah nodded, but didn't reply keeping silent until her ears suddenly noticed a change and she stopped and pointed to their right. "Let's go that way now. The water's louder over there. I wouldn't mind checking it out."

Danny nodded, tripping slightly over Molly-Spratt as he did and catching himself shakily by grabbing onto some of the flora. To Sarah and Danny's surprise, the air suddenly became alive as few dozen butterflies sprang up from the bush.

"Wow!" Sarah whispered. "They're huge!"

"Almost as big as my hand," Danny agreed. "Beautiful though."

Molly-Spratt barked and leapt up, trying to catch one of the brightly coloured insects, but the butterflies quickly moved off to another area out of his reach.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long until the source of the loud water became clear. They'd reached the bottom of a tall and rushing waterfall that flowed over a cliff and into the river. Danny picked up the dog as they stepped quickly back away to avoid being seen by the dozen pristichampsus.<p>

"Now what?" he muttered.

"If they see us, bow." Sarah replied. "Hopefully they've spent some time in Egypt. In the meantime, let's head around and to the top of the cliff. Did you see all the ledges?"

"Ledges?"

"They were about half way down the cliff. They might be a safe place to camp if we can repel down to them using some of the rope. They were large enough and the animals couldn't climb there."

"Makes us easy prey for large birds though, doesn't it?" Danny questioned. "There's a lot of recognizable species here I'm guessing, but they are still large and I wouldn't be surprised if there's some dinosaur sized birds around."

"Can you think of a safer place?" Sarah countered. "Anyway, we've got the tent to hopefully hide us from view."

"Fine," Danny agreed. "I'll see if I can't rig up some birdie booby traps up there too."

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later they had managed to get themselves, their pets, and all their belongings onto one of the large dirt shelves that sat beside the waterfall. Too close, in fact, to the edge of it, as the ground was wet and they could feel the spray.<p>

"Come on," Danny urged, "Let's set up this tent before we're soaked."

Sarah helped him and they got it up without too much trouble. Once inside, they began to collect up their belongings to see what they had. They kept the four blankets and the colourful coats. Sarah kept two of the robes she'd acquired as changes of clothing, but decided to get rid of five more as it was just too much to carry. Danny abandoned all of his and Sarah turned around while he changed back into his jeans that he'd originally worn. They'd washed them back in Israel so they felt much better than before.

"You should change back too, Sare." Danny commented. "The dress suits you, but it won't be the best thing to run around in."

Sarah nodded and did so, switching back from the sandals they'd been given to her sneakers. "We should ditch the sandals," she said. "No point carrying them around."

Danny nodded and they tossed them over the edge of the cliff with the other items they don't want, including a rather large selection of wooden carvings that they'd received as gifts. Sarah did keep one of them though, a small statue of a camel that Miriam had made for her, as a souvenir.

Then they also tossed Danny's original backpack. It'd become worn out with holes in it and the camel-hide bags they'd acquired now were stronger. Everything else that they'd had originally, they kept. They also kept a leather bag filled with edible nuts and dried fruits that Miriam had provided them with. The stuff they kept, minus the tent which Danny could carry on his back with a bag inside it when it was folded, fit inside one of the bags, which was good as they would be able to use the other to gather any extra supplies they might find.

"There, done," Danny said as he placed the anomaly detector in the repacked bag on the very top so that they'd hear it if it went off. Then he told Sarah to stay put and he went outside and scaled back up the wall. He wasn't gone for too long before returning with some huge branches and leaves. Sarah watched him with some interest as he rigged up a type of overhang about the tent, jutting out from the cliff face on one side and propped up with a particularly large branch sticking into the ground.

"What's that for?"

"Protect us from any large bird eyes. We should be nearly invisible now, I'd say."

"Good thinking. I have to say, I rather like this place. Can we explore for a few more hours before dark?"

Danny nodded and they climbed back up the cliff using the secured rope, placing their feet on the dirt wall. They took a knife each and the detector. "She can't really go anywhere up here, can she?" Danny said suddenly, glancing at Molly-Spratt. "Maybe we should leave her. I don't really feel like climbing the wall with her in a backpack until we need to."

Sarah nodded, "Yes, good idea. What about King?"

"Come and go as he pleases," Danny commented, "Same as always."

They scaled back up the wall and King started to follow them in the air at first, but after hearing Molly's protesting barks at being left behind, King seemed to change his mind and returned to the tent.

Once they were on solid ground again, Danny took Sarah's hand and they wandered for a bit, picking pieces of unrecognizable fruit that looked safe to eat. Most of it, they found, was rather tasty and juicy and quite sweet. "Yep," Sarah commented after a bite of something pink, "I really like this place."

"Me too," Danny admitted, "I feel like Tarzan here."

Sarah giggled, "Okay, but I'm not calling you that, just so you know."

Danny grinned at her cheekily, "Aww, c'mon. You could be Jane."

Sarah rolled her eyes, but giggled and they kept walking. Suddenly it got dark out, really dark. The change wasn't due to the now setting sun, but more to the large tall cloud over head.

"Storm coming," Danny commented, and even as he got the words out the rain began to fall in buckets and they were soaked to the bone before Sarah could reply.

"Storm here," she corrected as they went running back as fast as they could to the shelter of their tent, laughing the entire way.


	19. Slitherin' Snakes

Sarah shivered as she sat across from Danny in the tent with their frightened dog on her lap.

"Are you really still cold?" Danny asked her in amazement. "I know it's raining out there, but it's so warm!"

Sarah cuddled further into the Israelite robe she'd donned again, her wet clothes laying out on the ground so they wouldn't become moldy before drying. "My hair's still damp though. I'm just a wee bit chilly. You know, I really wish you hadn't thrown out _all _your robes."

"I'm fine," Danny replied. "I've got my coat."

"Doesn't help if your clothing is soaked through though does it? It's your turn."

Danny placed a small rock into the simple tic-tac-toe board they'd designed by laying a few sticks across each other on the ground. Sarah responded by dropping a piece of leaf into another empty spot. "Ha! I win again."

"That's because I always let you go first, Sare. If you make the right move, you'll be guaranteed a win. This _is_ x's and o's after all, not chess."

"Fine, you go first this time," she said as she colletected up her leaves and handed the rocks back to Danny.

Sure enough, Danny won this time around and Sarah shrugged, "Okay, so maybe it's _not _the most advanced game, but at least it passes the time."

"That'd be why we're playing," Danny agreed. "Now, do you want to win this time, or should I?"

Sarah shoved at him playfully, "Well, thanks a lot for ruining the game, Danny. Now we've gotta find some way else to pass the time."

"We could just head to bed for the night. I think the dark isn't only due to the clouds anymore."

"Right," Sarah agreed, pushing aside the pile or rocks, stones and leaves. "You keep first watch then."

"I don't think we need a watch here on the cliff, Sarah."

"Regardless, you're keeping it. I'm not in the mood to cuddle with you tonight."

Danny gave her a puzzled look, "Sare, is something bothering you?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"You shoulda kept your dry clothing, Danny."

Danny smiled a bit sheepishly, but shook his head, "Even if you're right, Sarah, I'm never gonna admit it, so you might as well give up."

Sarah laughed as she grabbed a blanket and curled herself into a ball inside it, "Goodnight, Danny."

"Night," he muttered, thinking he'd never get to sleep now.

* * *

><p>Sarah awoke a short time later to a crash and a curse from Danny. She moved to sit up and then found that she couldn't. Something was pinning her down.<p>

"Danny?" she whimpered, suddenly feeling a bit frightened in the dark, "Where are you? What's happened?"

"I'm here," he muttered. "Stay still a second."

"I can't go anywhere. I'm trapped."

"I know, sorry, it's that leafy shelter thing I built. The wind's knocked it down on top of the tent. You're not hurt are you?"

"No, Danny where exactly are you? I can't see anything."

"I'm outside here trying to pull it off."

Sarah relaxed, knowing that Danny would have her free in no time. In the meantime, she cuddled back into her blankets and waited. She felt Molly-Spratt snuggle up next to her, pressing her way under Sarah's arm.

"It's alright, Molly," Sarah whispered, patting the dog's head. Then suddenly she asked Danny, "Where's King?"

"He's helping me pull branches off you," Danny laughed. "Brave little lizard doesn't seem to mind the rain."

Sarah replied something that she hoped made sense as she felt herself dozing off to sleep again with the knowledge that everything was okay.

* * *

><p>The next time Sarah woke up, she found that the storm had stopped and the tent had been sort of rebuilt around her, being propped up with a few sticks. Danny lie sleeping beside her with just enough distance between them that he wouldn't get her clothing wet. She smiled as she shook herself free of the blankets and headed outside to survey the damage from the night before.<p>

Danny's leaf tarp was in pieces beside the tent, but she'd pretty much suspected that. She wasn't sure they really needed it anyway. She glanced up in the air to see if she could see any of the large birds that Danny was so worried about. There did seem to be a few soaring up ahead, but they looked more like giant parrots than anything else. Somehow she doubted they'd be eating humans, or even dogs for that matter.

She glanced up at the side of the cliff and found, to her relief, that their rope line was still tied securely around the tree at the top. That was definitely a good sign too. She knew better than to go exploring on her own though, so she stayed on the ledge and built a fire to dry her clothing near. She figured Danny'd want to sit by it and dry off too when he awoke. She was sure that he'd have been soaked to the bone when he'd worked on pulling the tent back up and off her the night before. She'd have to thank him now that she was properly awake.

A few moments later she heard Danny stirring inside the tent and then he stepped out and sat beside her on the ground, giving her a grin. "Morning."

"Morning," she smiled back at him. "Got any plans for the day?"

Danny shook his head, "Hang out. Survive. That sort of thing."

"I wouldn't mind sampling some more Eocene fruit. Once you're dry, let's go for a walk and get off this boring old ledge."

Danny nodded and they sat in silence until Sarah finally broke it. "Danny, thank-you for going back outside to un-trap me last night."

Danny just nodded, "Of course. I was relieved to hear you call me so quickly actually. Wasn't sure if you'd been hurt. I know the stuff isn't heavy, but a couple of those branches I'd made pretty sharp to get them to hold in place and that's what was pinning it all around you."

"Well… thanks. Are you going to rebuild the tarp?"

Danny shrugged, "I don't know. I guess it didn't turn out to be such a good idea. Maybe if I can think of a better way to secure it."

"I don't really think we'll be attacked from the sky. The birds I saw this morning looked like parrots."

"Could they talk? Parrots talk."

Sarah rolled her eyes but played along, "Yes, they were saying how silly it was that you were still in bed so late in the morning."

* * *

><p>A few hours later Sarah had changed again into her dry old clothing and they were walking through the forest again, chatting amicably about the many types of flora and fauna they were seeing. They'd left Molly-Spratt behind again, but this time King had opted to come with them, probably because he'd been hungry and hoped to find some fruit of his own to eat.<p>

They came eventually to a low log blocking their way and Danny gave a little cry as he jumped on top of it with a, "Ta-da!" Only a second later he found himself on the ground and Sarah let out a scream.

"What the hell?" Danny asked, puzzled. It took him a second to realise that his log had actually been a very, very large snake. Danny jumped back protectively to Sarah as the thing slithered around a tree, looping back toward them. Danny guessed it was at least as long as a school bus. "Sarah, get out of here," he ordered as he moved in front of her protectively.

Sarah didn't go though. She wasn't sure if it was her fear that routed her to the spot or her reluctance to leave Danny to defend himself alone. The snake came toward them, hissing, it's mouth wide open, and for a moment Danny thought it was going to swallow them whole, but then suddenly it darted away and around the tree again.

"Where's it gone?" Sarah asked, nervously.

"I dunno, but I suggest we leave before it comes back," Danny replied. They took a few steps backwards, not daring to turn their backs to it in case it was still watching them, and tripped over its scaly side. Sarah fell hard and Danny frowned and then suddenly it was there in front of them again.

"Danny!" Sarah panicked, "It's trapping us. It's encircling around us to squeeze us to death. We have to hurry."

Danny grabbed her hand to help her back to her feet as they tried again to find their way out of it's loop. The snake, however, was watching them as it made a second loop around them, and when they tried to step over it suddenly appeared in their faces, hissing and pushing them back towards the centre of its circling body again.

And then suddenly something else caught the snakes attention. King darted down in front of the snakes face and started chattering and chirruping and demanding attention. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as she and Danny took advantage of the snakes distracted state to step over its body and run.

"We have to get back to the tent!" Danny yelled, "Snakes are fast!"

Sarah kept running without taking time to respond. She was starting to hate snakes almost as much as she hated insects and giant scorpions. King was apparently doing a good job of keeping the large reptile distracted though, as they reached their climbing rope without problem. It wasn't until they were halfway down the rope that King rejoined them, swooping around them excitedly and chirruping.

Danny laughed, "Close call, eh King? Sarah, I do believe he's trying to re-enact for us exactly how he bravely saved our behinds."

Sarah didn't reply though as she dropped lightly to the ground and sat against the cliff wall. A moment later Danny dropped down beside her a found her face buried in her knees.

"Danny, I don't feel so good," she whispered. "That was too close."

Danny put his arm around her trembling body and let her cry. "It's okay, Sare," he whispered. "We're both fine, yeah?"

She nodded, but let herself finish crying against Danny's shoulder. It was only when she finally stopped that she noticed the way he was running his fingers through her hair. "My plait," she said, suddenly anxiously.

"What?" Danny looked at her puzzled.

"My plait came undone. Danny's where'd my hair ribbon go?"

Danny shrugged, "I dunno, you must have lost it when you fell. I think considering we came out of that alive, I wouldn't be too worried about your hair, Sarah."

She looked at him and started to sob again, "You don't understand, Danny! That was special! You tore your own clothing to make that for me!"

Danny stared at her. "Sarah, I can easily enough make you another one."

"Yeah?" she asked softly.

"Of course. I'll tear off my full sleeve and make you a dozen of them if that's what you want."

Sarah smiled then, "One'll do. I'm sorry, Danny. I'm just a bit emotional after that attack and, you know, the ribbon _was _special."

Danny kissed her forehead where it rested against his shoulder. "Sare, I'm sorry I jumped on the snake's back."

Sarah couldn't help but to giggle at that, "I bet that's one apology you never thought you'd have to make."

Danny chuckled, "Yeah, I suppose it is. But listen now, I want you to know something. If King hadn't saved us there, I'd have gotten you out somehow anyway. I'd have thought of something. I'm not gonna let you get hurt."

"I know," Sarah whispered. "I was worried about _you_."

They sat silent for a few moments until the sound of King's excited chirruping inside the tent interrupted their thoughts. A moment later Molly-Spratt gave a little answering bark and Danny jumped to his feet calling, "Oi! King! You don't have to be telling everyone the story now, do you?"

Sarah bit her lip to silence her giggle as she watched Danny leave.


	20. Christmas on a Clifftop

"Boy," Danny complained as he sat on a blanket in on the tent floor, "it sure rains a lot here."

"_Yeahhh_," Sarah replied, drawing out the word with mock surprise, "Who would've guessed? I know _I _certainly thought they called these places Tropical _Rain_forests because of all the snow."

"Oh shut up," Danny muttered with a smile.

"It could be worse," she pointed out. "We could've gotten here before we met the Israelites and then we'd be huddled on this here cliff with no warm woollen coats and no tents and no blankets."

"True story. That would've been downright miserable, for certain. Anyway, I shouldn't complain, I actually like it here."

"Ditto," Sarah agreed. It was mid-morning and despite the rain, there was enough light shining through the tent door, which they'd left partially opened for that reason, that they could see without problem. Sarah and Danny sat across from each other peeling the rinds from fruit they had collected up with a knife. Sarah'd promised Danny a fruit salad for lunch and he was rather looking forward to it.

The animals were both inside as well. Molly-Spratt kept getting up and trying to sneak toward the door, but Danny commanded her to stay each time. The last thing he needed was for the dog to get soaked and then come and jump onto his lap. King showed no interest in heading out into the rain, especially not with Sarah feeding him fruit rinds every few moments.

"Danny, what are we going to do about Spratt's food?" Sarah asked suddenly. "I daresay she's not getting enough to eat."

"She's welcome to have fruit too if she wants."

"She won't eat it though, you know that."

"She will if she's hungry enough. She was catching insects earlier."

"That's not gonna fill her up."

"I dunno, the bugs are pretty big around here and she got a lot of them. She'll be alright."

"What about that can of spam we still have? Or the tin of ravioli?"

Danny sighed, "Sarah, we talked about this when we took her in. We can't starve for the sake of the dog. If she's hungry, she'll eat the fruit."

"Danny, do you realise that we've been away from home for eleven months now? Almost a year, and we haven't eaten it yet. We keep saving it 'Just in Case' but we've never needed to use it."

"Quite a few of those months were spent with the Israelites, Sare. Doesn't mean we're always going to be so lucky. Has it really been so long? I was going to keep track, but I'd forgotten."

"It has. I have kept track, a bit."

Danny suddenly sighed and put down his knife and the fruit he was holding and moved around beside Sarah draping his arm across her shoulders. "Then I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I must've missed your birthday. And Christmas."

"Oh, yes, I guess you're right. I missed them too then. And yours. But maybe they don't count out here. After all, how can we have a birthday if we aren't born yet?"

Danny chuckled, "Does that mean I don't have to get older too?"

"Absolutely. I am _all _for that idea." Sarah nodded. "As long as we're here I say we just stay the same age. No birthdays necessary."

"We should still celebrate Christmas though, I like Christmas and you don't get any older celebrating it."

"If you think we're having a Jingle Bells sing-along you're mistaken. Anyway, Christmas would've been a two months ago."

"Very funny. But we could have a special meal. Maybe we could open that ravioli can after all."

"I thought we were saving that in case we needed it."

"We'll split it three ways, me, you, _and_ Molly-Spratt," Danny offered.

"If I want to get my way about anything else, can I just list all the other holidays we've missed?" Sarah grinned.

Danny swatted at her playfully and moved back to pick up his knife. "If we're gonna celebrate, we'll do it properly. I don't want cold ravioli so we wait until it stops raining and then I'll go outside and build a fire."

* * *

><p>It took a day and a half for the rain to actually stop, but they had Sarah's fantastic fruit salad to use first anyways so it hadn't really mattered to either of them. While the exotic fruit was quite delicious, the eagerly anticipated cooked ravioli was simply suburb. Sarah knew that it'd be the opposite at home, but it'd been so long since she'd eaten anything that came from the 21st century that the common tin of ravioli felt more like the gourmet meal. She savoured her small portion of it with a smile.<p>

Molly-Spratt was thrilled with the offering and gobbled up her portion quickly before looking between Sarah and Danny with pleading eyes as she begged for more. Danny sighed and tossed her one more extra piece of his.

"You never admit it," Sarah said, "But you're such a softie for her after all."

Danny shrugged, "Oh, come on, Sarah. Did you see that look she gave me? Even Becker wouldn't have been able to resist that one. Anyway, it's not like I didn't see_ you_ sneak a piece to her too."

"Yes, but I'm the one who wanted her to have it in the first place."

Danny opened his mouth to reply again, but they were suddenly interrupted the familiar blipping of the handheld ADD. Their eyes met in surprise.

"Man," Sarah cried, "I actually liked this place."

"Maybe this one goes home."

"Maybe, but it's unlikely isn't it Danny. Still, we go through them all."

They moved as one as they quickly packed up their gear and other items. Danny gently tossed Molly-Spratt into a partially opened camel-skin bag as well so that he could carry her on his back up the rope ladder. "How far is it?" he asked Sarah who was holding onto the device.

"Not very, and the signal is strong."

"Good, let's find it now, but before we go through, let's fill up one of these bags with fruit."

"Right," Sarah agreed. "You know it's crazy, but each time that thing goes off it still comes as a bit of a shock. You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

"Pretty hard to get used to switching time eras on a moments notice," Danny agreed. "By the way, Merry Christmas."

Sarah chuckled, "Thanks, though I still say it's probably February or so."

"Back home maybe, but who knows what it is here."

"Alright, Danny, Merry Christmas," she replied, kissing him quickly on the cheek.

Danny grinned at her, "Ah, the Christmas Kiss, best gift ever."

"Stop flirting, Danny, and let's go."

* * *

><p>They found the anomaly with little difficulty and then continued on their way to find an assortment of fruit before they went through. They wanted to get as much as they could carry.<p>

"Pick the stuff that's not as ripe," Sarah lectured. "It'll ripen later and won't go bad as quick."

"It's all foreign stuff, Sare, how do I know?"

"Pick it when it's harder, not as soft I guess."

"Right. Now, what do you think? I could put Molly-Spratt down and there'd be more room in the backpack, but I'm not sure I want to risk her getting eaten by our snake friend."

"We're fine, we've got our hero King with us, don't forget," Sarah grinned, "but pass her to me. I've got an idea."

Danny did so and Sarah took the rope they'd untied from the tree over the cliff and made a loose loop on it, slipping it over the dogs neck.

"That won't choke her?"

"No, the knot is secure; the loop won't get any smaller."

Molly-Spratt looked unbelievably put off at the gesture though and gave Sarah a hard time as she pulled in every which way.

"She's not used to it," Danny spoke.

"Well she'll get used to it. She's a dog; she can learn to use a lead. C'mon!"

Danny leaned down to give the dog a quick pat and then continued with his fruit hunt. He was concentrating so much on getting the firmest pieces that it took him awhile to notice the detector's blipping was starting to fade a bit.

"Sarah!" he called.

"What?" She responded in an irritated tone that was no doubt triggered by her efforts to keep Molly-Spratt still while she picked fruit. The dog kept running in circles around her and getting her tangled in the rope.

"Sarah we've gotta go. Check the device."

Sarah's expression changed as she understood his meaning and she grabbed the handheld out of her pocket.

"Danny, it's fading fast."

"Right," Danny scooped up the dog into his arms and they both took off at a sprint followed closely by their flying lizard.

The anomaly was already pulsing when they reached it and Danny was more than a little bit worried that they wouldn't make it.

"This better not lead to the future!" He called, "Because we're not getting back again."

Then he made a running leap for it and Sarah did the same. They both found themselves sitting on their bottoms on a cold wet surface as the anomaly suddenly disappeared before their eyes. King floated down and landed on Danny's lap, looking up at him miserably and it didn't take them long to figure out why he was upset.

"Well, it's not the future," Danny said, "but I'm glad we gathered food before coming here."

Sarah nodded as she looked around at the harsh settings and then quickly stood up. Her clothing was already soaked through from the wet ice they'd landed on. They seemed to be halfway up a mountain and looking down over a gradual incline into a snow-filled valley. Snow and Ice. It's all they could see in any direction. There were a few trees that were pushed up taller than the snow, mostly pines, but anything smaller had probably been buried years ago. The wind was swirling harshly around their faces and Sarah felt like she'd been bit by Jack Frost already. The extreme temperature difference from the Eocene probably made it even worse. She dumped her bag upside down, careful not to scatter the fruit far, and pulled one of her robes over her head and then layered her warm jacket over that.

"P-P-Pass me mine?" Danny shivered.

Sarah nodded and handed him the long coat. Then she tossed him a blanket as well. "Wrap King in this will you? We have to keep him warm."

Danny nodded and obeyed, cuddling the lizard close to his chest to warm him up. The lizard buried down as far as he could into the blanket.

"This is going to be a problem, Sarah," Danny said. "There's no way he'll survive long in this climate. I daresay we've ended up smack dab in the middle of an ice age or something."

"He won't have to for too long," Sarah noted, "Listen. the detector's still going off. There's another anomaly."

It was then that Danny realised she was right. He'd gotten used to the sound in his ears so that he hadn't noticed it didn't stop when the anomaly had closed behind them. He picked it up off the ground and looked at it.

"It's strong."

"The last one was strong too and stable, but that changed rather suddenly. Unless we want to stay here for long, I suggest we keep moving."

"Right, I'm all for moving actually," Danny responded, getting to his feet and still clutching the lizard soundly to himself. "We'll freeze to death if we don't."

Sarah finished packing up and then let Molly-Spratt off the lead for a bit so she could bury her hands deep into her sleeves. "She'll be fine," she commented as she watched Molly-Spratt bound playfully in the snow, chasing the wind-swirling flakes. "She's got a fur coat and there's probably nothing around for miles to eat her. Now let's find that anomaly."

"S'right there," Danny pointed suddenly as the flickering light in the distance caught his eye.

Sarah's gaze followed his fingertip and she groaned. "Now how on earth are we ever going to get up there?"


	21. Of Rabbits and Frozen Mammoth

The anomaly seemed far, really far. Sarah figured even if they walked all day and night it'd take them a full two days to get there, and that'd be if they lucked out and found a hiking trail cleared for them that wasn't covered in snow and ice. Even with the chance of the anomaly closing before they reached it, she was unwilling to walk on the steep icy terrain after dark. Especially not in the strong windstorm that was blowing. So far it was taking all her effort to stay upright when she _could _see. She was just glad she'd let Molly-Spratt off the lead or the dog would have surely pulled her off a cliff by now.

"C'mon, Sare," Danny called to her from a few steps ahead. "It's not _that _difficult."

"Easy for you to say," Sarah retorted. "You've got better grip on your shoes and you've had training for climbing in dangerous weather conditions."

"I'd give you a hand if I wasn't holding onto King."

"Oh sure, choose him over me," Sarah teased.

"Well, you know, he doesn't talk back nearly so much."

"That's never good when you want to have a conversation you know."

"Maybe I don't. Maybe I'll just leave you here and stick with the pets from now on," Danny grinned playfully as he slowed his pace a bit so she could keep up.

"Funny you're so fond of them, when you never had a pet back home."

"I did at one time. I had a cat named Shelby. What about you?"

Sarah shrugged, "I had a rabbit in college."

"Named?"

"Thumper."

"Like from Bambi?"

"Yep."

"Now that's a good movie."

"No it's not! His mum dies!"

"So you _don't _like the movie but you named your pet after it?"

"I couldn't think of any other famous rabbits."

"Bugs Bunny? Babs and Buster? Or there's a whole score of them in Watership Down. Fiver? Hazel? Strawberry? Big Wig? Of course you don't _have _to name your pets after some other famous animal of their species you know. Do you know any famous cats named Shelby?"

In spite of herself, Sarah had to laugh, "Okay, okay, it wasn't _the _most original. Why'd you choose Shelby?"

"I dunno, the cat just looked like a Shelby to me."

"Why'd you only have one pet ever if you like animals so much?"

"Parents wouldn't let me when I was a kid and when I got older I got Shelby. I had her a long time. Had to put her down a couple years ago when she got really old and sick but she was twenty by then and I'd had her since she was a kitten."

"That must've been hard."

"It was. I was actually just starting to think about getting another one when I got the job at the ARC and well, you know how that takes over your life. I got a bit distracted with work and just never bothered. What about you?"

"Same as you in that I wasn't allowed one as a kid. And then I enjoy that little girl when we get home," Danny laughed. "All this talk of pets makes me want one."

"Okay one, you can have a pet without stealing one belonging to a poor little girl and two, that was your rule, not mine. And I'm sure the dog will be thrilled to see her again too."

"What about King?"

"You wanted a pet, there you have it."

"Lester won't let us keep him, you know that. There was enough red tape to go through to let Abby take Rex and that was only because she had a degree specializing in lizards and Rex was already used to her."

"She'll probably end up gaining King too, if she got home safe."

"We'll just have to get a dog when we return," Danny stated quickly, not wanting to dwell on the thought that Abby and Connor might not have gotten back for too long.

"_We?_ I wasn't aware we lived together."

Danny frowned, "Well, I just thought, I mean come on, Sare. We've been living together for almost a year now out here. I don't really want to go back to being on my own, do you? I'd think I'd prefer to stay in the past."

Sarah blushed a bit, but it was unnoticeable since her face was already so red from the cold. "I suppose I don't want that either. But Danny, what about our homes?"

"I'd suggest we sell one of them and live in the other, except I don't know about you but I'm eleven months behind in mortgage payments and I'm guessing they've both been repossessed."

Sarah sighed, "I didn't think of that. You don't think there's a possibility the ARC would've covered for us do you?"

"For eleven months? Sarah, I hate to say it, but we're probably presumed dead. I can see for a month or two, yes, but the ARC isn't going to pay our mortgages forever."

"Shame, I had a lot of nice things it that home. Egyptian artefacts and all that."

"Yeah? To be honest, I'm more missing the stuff like my bed and fridge full of food."

"That too," Sarah chuckled, "I had those things too."

"I bet the ARC saved a lot of our things into storage. They wouldn't have held on to our homes, but I'm sure they sent a team down there to ransack the places. Couldn't have any strange scientific notes found by anyone in the repossessing branch sort of thing. I like to think they'd have saved a few items for our return, just in case."

"I hope so."

"Sarah, you _will _live with me when we get home, won't you? I was serious about that."

Sarah smiled, "Yeah, I'd like that." Then she chuckled and teased, "If we're not both sick of each other by then."

"Never," Danny replied, surprisingly remaining serious and suddenly reaching over to kiss her cheek.

Sarah bit her lip and ducked her head a bit, "C'mon, Danny. We have to keep walking if we're ever gonna reach this anomaly."

"Fine," Danny agreed, "But tonight when we get inside our tent I want to talk to you about something."

"About what?"

"Us."

* * *

><p>It took nearly twelve more hours of walking for them to reach the top of the mountainous ridge they were climbing up. The anomaly lay along the ridge at the top of another mountain, three mountains over. The quickest way was to walk from mountain top to mountain top along the narrow ridge that joined them, but now that they had no cliff side blocking part of the wind, the weather was even worse. Plus it was starting to grow dark. Sarah finally halted.<p>

"Danny, enough for tonight. We need to go back lower a tiny bit and set up our tent."

Danny nodded and let her take the lead for a bit. He hadn't said anything as he didn't want to worry her, but it'd been a long time since he'd felt King move. He hoped that the tent would block enough of the wind that he'd warm up and be okay still. He set the lizard down as carefully as possible, still wrapped in the blanket and helped Sarah set up the tent with as much speed as possible. They were much better at the task than they'd first been when the Israelite children had laughed at them. Molly-Spratt darted inside the tent when it was only half up, eager to get out of the cold as well, and Danny put King inside with him before they finished. Once they were all in he secured the flaps as best as he could.

"Sarah maybe we should try and get a fire going," Danny suggested as he discretely reached inside the bundle of blankets to rest his hand on King's belly, hoping for some signs of life. He smiled when he felt a faint heart beat. "King really needs to warm up."

"Inside the tent?" Sarah asked. "I'm not so sure that's safe."

"It'll have to be a super small one of course and we'll have to watch it like hawks or you know, pterodactyls, but I don't think freezing to death in our sleeps is a much better option."

Sarah nodded, too frozen herself to argue with the thought of a nice warm flame. "Okay," she agreed, "just a small one. And only to warm up. We put it out before we fall asleep."

Danny stood up and emptied a bag onto the ground and then started to leave and Sarah frowned, "Where are you going?"

"I need firewood, don't I? Unless you planned on burning our blankets. There's a few pines nearby I can pick the branches off."

"Danny…"

"I'll be fine, Sare. I'll be back in five minutes. Ten max."

Sarah sighed and let him go. Then she turned her attention to the lizard too. He was stirring inside his blanket now but he looked horrible; Danny was right, they needed to warm him up. She wondered what they'd do about him over the next few days of walking, but she supposed they'd have to continue on as such.

She opened the flap of the tent just slightly and pulled inside a large armful of snow, spreading it out on the middle of the tent floor. She knew it'd make the ground wet when the fire melted it, but she also knew it'd help stop the tent from burning down if they put the pine on top of the snow to begin with. She wasn't sure how flammable camel-hide was.

She smiled to herself as she thought about Danny's words to her earlier. She wasn't nervous about his little talk; in fact she was rather looking forward to it. It was about time they just opened up and let each other know how they felt. It was obvious enough that Danny liked her as much as she did him, or he wouldn't have asked her to move in with him when they got home. It had felt right before to ignore the subject and let things play out as they would, but something had changed today with his assumption that they'd be together after they returned home and she knew they were both suddenly thinking about their future and what they really meant to each other. Things had to be said. And they would be said if he'd hurry up and get back.

Suddenly Sarah started to worry a bit. He'd been gone closer to fifteen minutes now than ten. Where could he be? She was debating whether or not it'd be a good idea to go out and look for him when he suddenly called her and appeared at the tent door.

"I've got dinner, Sare! And it's food that even Molly-Spratt will enjoy, I found us some meat."

He looked so eager about it, but Sarah couldn't help but to be a bit dubious. "Danny, what on earth? What _kind _of meat?"

Danny's face fell, "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that actually. Don't worry, the meat's been frozen and it's good. The animal seems to have died of nothing but starvation and cold. It was quite skinny."

"Well yes, I assumed it was dead. But what sort of animal are we looking at here?"

"You _really _don't want to know."

"I think I do."

"Mammoth."

Sarah closed her eyes for a minute to let that sink in. "Abby'll kill us."

"It's not like I killed the thing."

"You didn't happen to see any living ones did you, because that'd be cause for concern I'd think."

Danny shook his head, "No, but I imagine they are around. Still, they're vegetarian you know."

"I know. It doesn't make me want to run into a herd of them. Well alright, you did good. Let's cook it up then."

Danny had smartly thought to bring back some of the beasts bones as well, to rest his pine on top of. Sarah was relieved at that as she thought it'd work much better than her snow and she swept some of that back outside again. The chunk of meat he'd found was rather huge and Sarah set to cutting it up into smaller strips while he worked on getting the fire going, opting to use the lighter. Molly-Spratt came over at the sight of the meat, but Sarah commanded her to sit and wait, thinking it'd be better for her when it was cooked.

Once the fire was going, King became livelier again and even emerged from the blanket bundle to accept some fruit chunks before settling himself on Danny's lap.

"Hmmm," Sarah said as she pulled the first strip of cooked meat off the stick she'd been roasting it and tasted it cautiously. "Mammoth meat is actually quite good."

Danny nodded, taking a bite himself, "Sorta like deer actually. My grandpa used to be a hunter and he brought us lots of deer."

"Another thing to never tell Abby."

"Agreed. There's still a whole lot of mammoth left out there I couldn't carry, by the way. So if you're still hungry after…"

Sarah laughed as she looked at the huge slab of meat Danny'd brought it. It was almost four times the size of Molly-Spratt. "I think that's plenty enough for one night. Especially if we eat some of the fruit to go with it. It'll spoil if we don't."

"It's probably frozen."

"True. But we can have a little bit. It'll compliment the mammoth meat nicely. Especially one of those pink fruits."

"We should've started naming this stuff. There's two types of pink ones," Danny said, rummaging through her bag to find her one. "Did you want the one that's pink on the outside and orange inside, or the red on the outside pink on the in."

"Pink on the outside."

Danny tossed her one and she caught it easily with both hands. "Thanks."

Danny nodded and grabbed an orange fruit that looked almost like a modern day orange on the outside, but which they both knew by now was green and soft inside, more like a strawberry in texture.

They sat in silence for a bit after that, both too preoccupied with eating to say anything. Once in awhile they tossed strips of cooked meat to Molly-Spratt and Danny had cut up a fruit of the same sort that Sarah was eating for King. It was only after they were both stuffed that Danny put out the fire. Despite the weather outside, the camel-hide tent was doing an amazing job of keeping warm, though the blankets and coats helped. Danny made up a bed for them and then laid down and pulled Sarah into his arms.

"So," he said. "About that talk…"


	22. Talking Backwards

**A/N I've decided that this story is dedicated to TheSingingPterodactyl and MusicGirl97 because they both they leave fun detailed reviews on every chapter, write amazing stories themselves (CHECK THEM OUT IF YOU HAVEN'T) and are just plain awesome people, that's why. You guys Rock. And now on with the story... **

Sarah grinned to herself, knowing that Danny couldn't see her properly in the dark, as she cuddled closer to him.

"Hmm, talk then."

"Sarah, do you miss the place with the Israelites?"

Sarah wasn't positive what that had to do with the 'us', Danny had wanted to talk about but this was his idea and she planned on letting him lead the conversation, so she nodded. "Yeah, of course I do, Danny. But not so much that I feel homesick toward them or anything. It's the ARC I want to get back to."

"What do you miss about them?"

"I miss having people around. I miss the children laughing. I miss Miriam dearly."

"Well, I miss all that too. But do you want to know what I miss most? You were my wife there."

Sarah sat slightly up, surprised. "Danny, you're not proposing to me are you?" Her voice was teasing, but the question felt a bit unsure.

Danny shrugged, "I don't know, Sare. Not now, no, maybe it's too soon for that. But I do half wish I'd found a priest and got them to really marry us at the time. I mean, Sare, I know we keep saying, "When we get back" this and, "When we get back" that , but there's still this very real possibility that we don't ever get back and it's a reality we have to live with right now whether we admit it or not. What if we _can't _ever get married because we never find someone to perform a ceremony?"

"Danny," Sarah said gently, "Even if we _had _been ready to get married for real, which I don't think we were seeing as we haven't even talked about our relationship yet, don't you think it would've been a bit confusing asking them to marry us when they thought we were already married?"

"Well, yeah, but so what? Let them be confused."

"Anyway, it's all moot, isn't it? We're not there; we didn't do it."

"If I had asked you back then, would you have said yes?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Probably."

Danny grinned, "Even though you don't think we're ready either?"

"In the long term, yes, I want to wind up with you, so… I dunno. But Danny, I'm also glad we didn't. It'd have been rushed and it would've been because of the situation we were in. Not to mention it would've felt like defeat and that we were admitting we'd never get back home. Besides we don't need anyone to marry us, you know?"

"Don't we?"

"No. Who's to say we are and aren't married? That's just government stuff anyway, all those rules and stuff. I can commit to you and make vows to you and I don't need a piece of paper to tell me we're legal. Back here, we're the only people on earth. I say that means we get to make our own rules and government and if we say that you can perform your own marriage ceremonies or, you know, have your pet lizard do it for you, without any special license, then who's to say we're wrong? We can make whatever laws we want for ourselves here."

"Now that's a powerful thought. We could make a whole list of rules and then, well, that's just how government worked in the Jurassic or Cretaceous or Silurian or whatever time period we happened to be in. No one will ever change that. Sarah and Danny: World Leaders for millions of years."

"Exactly. Only don't go getting big-headed about it yeah?"

"Okay, okay. Well anyway, this conversation has gotten a bit off track. I didn't mean to jump so far into our future together, I just, I had to get that off my shoulders because it's been bugging me for awhile that I didn't marry you at the time. I feel better about it now and I want to come back to the point. Sarah, we never say it, but we are together right? You _are _my girlfriend?"

Sarah had to bite her lip to stifle her laugh. She didn't want to hurt him when he was being all serious by finding his words funny but… _really,_ this whole thing felt sort of backwards at the moment. "_Yes, _Danny," she replied, getting control of herself again. "If that's what this is all about, making it official and all, I'd love to be your girlfriend."

"Good," Danny replied, "Then I can do this." He shuffled himself into a position where he could capture her lips with his and Sarah sighed contentedly as she returned his gentle kiss.

When they finally broke apart, they pressed their foreheads together, staring into each other's eyes. "I love you, Sarah Page," Danny told her firmly. "I love you."

Sarah smiled at him, "I know you do."

"Wait, aren't you supposed to say it back?"

Sarah chuckled, "I love you too, Danny."

"I know."

Sarah laughed then, "Tell me, did you also know that _most _people do this stuff before they talk about getting married? Probably before they make the decision to move in together too?"

"Yeah, but Sarah, we travel time and work with dinosaurs. I think that in itself is pretty much fate's way of telling us we're not like _most _people. We're meant to be different and do things our own way."

"Agreed. We'll write our own story."

"Story? Let's see… Well we've got characters: us, a setting: somewhere cold, a genre: obviously this is a romance story, now we just need a plot."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll involve a very cold hike in the morning and preferably a Happily Ever After ending that takes place in 21st Century London," Sarah giggled.

"That does sound ideal," Danny agreed. "We write a good tale. It's better than Romeo and Juliet."

"Only Lester would never let us publish it."

"Pity that. Ah well. If our plot's gonna work we'd best get some sleep to prepare for that long cold hike tomorrow. Night, Love."

"Goodnight, Danny," she responded, smiling as he gave her another kiss.

* * *

><p>It was Danny who came up with the brilliant idea of wrapping King in a layer of mammoth hide before they left and <em>then<em> putting him in the blanket. He seemed to be doing much better than the day before and while he still seemed content to stay snuggled up in Danny's arms, Danny could hear him chirruping every once in awhile and he was definitely stirring more.

"Sarah!" Danny spoke suddenly after a long moment of silence where they concentrated solely on keeping their footing on the ice.

Sarah started a bit at the loud sudden break in the quietness beside her ear and promptly fell down on to the ice, giving Danny a glare.

"Oops, sorry," he apologized. "It's just that I just had _the _most amazing idea."

"Does it involve me pelting you with snowballs for scaring the hell out of me?" Sarah demanded moodily as she stood up and brushed the snow from her coat.

"You wouldn't do that; I've got my arms full of cold lizard."

"Lucky for you."

"I know it. But listen, here's my idea. Let's find a big rock and deeply engrave laws into it."

"What?"

"You heard me. We'll make up all kinds of crazy government laws that are so silly but in formal language and we'll sign it King Danny and Queen Sarah and then, when archaeologists dig it up and date it as being from the ice age, well that'll really throw them all for a loop, won't it?"

Sarah giggled at the thought, "Yes, I suppose it would. You know if Cutter'd been here he'd have our hide for purposely rewriting history like that though. And to be honest, I'm more concerned about reaching that anomaly on time than stopping for stone engravings."

"Good point. Still, you have to admit, it _was _a good idea."

"Brilliant," Sarah agreed when she saw the smug grin on his face. She quickly kissed his cheek, unable to resist and then took the lead. "_C'mon._"

* * *

><p>"What's your middle name?" Danny asked, once again randomly breaking a silence as they walked.<p>

"What?"

"What's your middle name? I feel bad. I just realised I half-proposed last night and I don't even know _that_ much about you. I think that's a little backwards."

"Oh gosh, you're not still thinking about the marriage thing are you? The entire conversation was backwards."

"So I can't think about it? Backwards or not, you have to admit that you agreed we'll end up marrying one day. So, what is it, what's your middle name?"

She sighed, "Alyssa-Lane."

"Sarah Alyssa-Lane Page. That's beautiful."

She smiled, "Glad you like it. Well come on then, what's yours?"

Danny looked a bit sad suddenly and muttered, "Patrick, like my brother."

"Oh." Sarah thought for a moment and then frowned, "Wait? So you're parents named your brother after your middle name?"

"See, when I was born they loved both names so much that they couldn't choose. So they finally flipped a coin to see which would come first and I was Daniel Patrick. But of course they only got to call me Daniel so when they found out they were having another son they used Patrick over again. I'm Daniel Patrick, he's Patrick Daniel."

Sarah let out a giggle, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. They are both lovely names, but you were making fun of _me _for being uncreative with my bunny named Thumper the other day? If they only found two names they liked, what would they have done if they'd had a third son?"

Danny grinned at her, "I dunno. Maybe they could have named him something like "Dan-Patrice."

"Is your entire family crazy like you?"

"Hey! Who you calling crazy?" Danny laughed.

"You," Sarah replied easily.

"Yeah, guess I must be crazy. I fell in love with you, didn't I?"

And then, being extra careful not to hit King, Sarah _did _pelt him with a snowball.

* * *

><p>"How's the signal look?" Sarah asked. They'd been walking along the ridge for three days now and they were frozen, numb to the bones, but they hoped to reach the anomaly before nightfall.<p>

"Still as strong as ever," Danny replied. He was navigating with the detector at the moment while Sarah took a turn at cradling King.

"I sure hope that the place on the other side of this anomaly is warmer."

"It'd be right about impossible for it to be colder, wouldn't it?"

"I miss the rainforest."

"Me too. Although it _did _rain a lot there."

"Let's make a bet," Sarah grinned. "What do _you _think lies on the other side of that anomaly?"

"Like the time period's name?"

"No, not that. I don't know most of the names of the times, only a few. But what temperature, what sort of landscape?"

"Oh, I'm gonna say cold, but not nearly as cold as here. Maybe just a couple small scattered spots of snow on the ground because it's winter. And probably a forest."

"More cold?" Sarah groaned at the idea.

"It's hard to imagine anything warm just now."

"True. Okay, I'll go with a big open field with nothing around for miles, except maybe dinosaurs and grass. I think it'll be warmish and windy."

"We haven't had a field yet."

"I know, that's why I guessed it."

"So if either of us guesses right, what's the prize?"

"Whatever the winner wants."

"Now that's asking for a lot."

"Meh, maybe you'll win. But you've gotta get both right. Climate and place."

"Neither of us will win that."

"I know."

* * *

><p>It was nearly nightfall when they reached the anomaly. Danny looked at Sarah with a grin. "We did it!"<p>

"And we're freezing. Let's go through."

"I think we should wait a moment and get out our knives, just in case."

Sarah nodded and dug them out of the backpack. "Maybe unwrap King too, in case he needs to fly away somewhere fast."

"I think he'll need time to warm up before he _can _fly, Sare." Danny replied.

"Oh. Well let's just hope for the best then."

"Ready?"

"Never, but let's go."

And so they stepped through.

* * *

><p>Danny was right about the forest, but not about the temperature. It was warm here. Not super hot, Sarah knew, but it felt hot compared to the Ice Age they'd just come through. Her ears and nose burned painfully with the instant thawing. The trees were tall here and few and far between. Not much grew around them and everything seemed brown. The ground was all dusty and dirty and the tree branches started too far above their heads to be taken into consideration. All they could see without looking up was the dusty brown trunks.<p>

"Well, this should be interesting," Danny remarked. "There's growing things anyways."

"And probably plenty of dinosaurs."

"Probably."

Danny put King down and unwrapped him, letting him sniff the difference in the climate. King cheered up and walked around slowly, stretching his wings but not flying just yet.

"Let's give him a moment," Danny said, "And then we'll continue on."

"Right. I want to pack up my extra clothing anyway again. I think we'll get too warm here shortly and this stuff's all wet." She removed her coat and the robe she wore over her modern clothing and folded them, placing them in her bag. Danny handed her his coat as well and she placed it with it.

"There we go," she said. Then she turned to the lizard, "King? Can you fly?"

As if he understood, he gave his wings a little shake and then flew up and landed on her shoulder.

"Good boy," Sarah grinned. She glanced at Danny. "Shall we?"

He nodded and reached for her hand, "We shall."

* * *

><p>They walked a long ways. Danny was pleased to find that it wasn't nightfall here like it had been in the ice age as it gave them a chance to look around. There were dinosaurs alright, he could hear them at all times, but so far they hadn't come across much other than a few herbivores that paid them little attention. Eventually the anomaly detector stopped blipping and Danny thought they'd gotten out of its range.<p>

"It worked a lot farther in the ice age," Sarah said suddenly, a puzzled expression on her features.

"It wasn't all that far to the anomaly, if we'd had wings to fly straight across," Danny pointed out. "It was the bad weather and the climb that made it seem so. We had to go along the long way. I daresay if we'd taken into account a direct route straight across the sky, we've come further than that here now."

"That seems strange."

"Yes, but regardless…"

He was interrupted by a loud scream that sounded very reptile-like. Angry reptile. He and Sarah froze in place.

"Where was that?" She asked. Molly-Spratt was pressed tightly against her ankles and King was doing the same with Danny. Sarah tightened her grip on Danny's hand and held her knife out with the other hand.

"I dunno," he responded.

It came again a moment later, closer, and they both suddenly looked up at the same time.

"What the _hell _is that?" Danny asked, staring at the large crocodile swinging from the tree.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Sarah responded, "But I suggest we slowly leave."

"Too late for that, it's spotted us. Have your knife ready."

The creature, which reminded Sarah a bit of the ones that looked like Ammut if it wasn't for its short snout and monkey like behaviour, was jumping from tree to tree easily, slowly circling them from above and watching them. Sarah wasn't naïve; she knew it planned to attack as soon as it'd worked out who and what they were. She let out a scream just as it leapt for her, but at the same time a rope lasso encircled the thing's neck and dragged it choking to the ground. Danny and Sarah looked around, startled and found a woman with long dark curly hair watching them with a grin.

"They're too fast to stab, you know," she said eyeing their knives. "You've gotta rope 'em. By the way, welcome to our world. My name's Emily. Who are you?"


	23. Family Reunion

Danny and Sarah stared silently in shock as the woman before them tugged a bit tighter on the rope that had rendered the weird looking reptile unconscious from lack of oxygen. It took them a moment to recover their voices and it was Sarah who spoke first.

"Uh, thanks for that. Um, I'm Sarah and this is Danny."

"Your boyfriend?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Sarah agreed with a grin, happy they'd actually had that conversation the other day or it would have been rather awkward.

"You speak English?" Danny asked suddenly, still in awe that she was even here.

"No, French," Emily replied sarcastically.

"Sorry, dumb question. Just surprised me is all. What are you doing here?"

"At the moment, I live here, along with the others. There's thirteen of us in all. You two will make it fifteen if you plan on joining us. It's up to you of course, but there's not much other place to go. You should know though: I'm in charge."

"Right," Danny muttered.

"You don't look all that surprised about it."

"About what?"

"That I'm in charge."

Danny looked puzzled, "I'm surprised you're here. I'm surprised that Sarah and I are not dinner for that _thing_ at the moment. Surprised you're in charge? No. Why would I be?"

"Where I come from, it's unusual for a woman to be in charge."

"Oh," Sarah replied, "and where is that exactly."

"London, England. Do you know it?"

"See," Danny said, "Now again, that does surprise me. We're from there too. Only, apparently not the same London you're from because women are always in charge in the London I know."

"Mid-eighteen hundreds here," Emily offered. "You two?"

"Early 21st century," Sarah replied, as if this was a normal way of explaining where one originated.

Emily grinned at her, "Well come on, tell me your story. So far you've been asking all the questions, but it seems to me that you're the newcomers. How'd you get here? You must've come through a gateway."

"A gateway?" Danny asked, puzzled.

"She means the anomalies," Sarah translated for him and then she turned to Emily. "We did actually. We've come through many of them. The last one led to some ice age or another. We've been travelling them for about eleven months now. When we left home, we were working at a place called the ARC where we study the anomalies and we accidentally got stuck on the other side. We've been trying to get back."

Danny leaned over and whispered into Sarah's ear, "I think you're breaking the confidentiality agreement Lester had us sign."

"Only we're millions of years in the past so we haven't signed it yet, have we?" she hissed back. "Besides, she seems to know of them already."

Indeed, Emily looked quite interested and she sat down on a fallen log and motioned for them to join her. "So you knew about the gateways before you entered them? You study them you say? Can you tell us when and where they're going to open?"

Sarah shook her head, "No, sorry. We never got that far. We started to predict them, but every time we had a breakthrough in that, something went wrong. The work was uncompleted when we left."

Danny suddenly interrupted, "Sorry, I might as well ask this now before it gets awkward later, but, what was your name again? I was a bit too shocked to catch that when you introduced yourself."

Emily let out a soft laugh. "Emily," she replied. "Lady Emily Merchant if you want to be specific. I've been travelling through the gateways for three years now. Ethan's got a radio so he can detect them when they are really close."

"We've got one too," Danny grinned. "Our friend Connor built ours. Who is Ethan? Your boyfriend?"

"Oh gosh no!" Emily replied. "Ethan's just… Ethan. He's a bit crazy in a dangerous way, but we put up with him since, well, you know, he can detect the anomalies. He's been travelling them for nearly twenty years now. He takes some looking after though. It's because of him that we came up with our rule that we can't interfere in other human eras. We don't quite trust what he'd do. He's had some sort of mental breakdown and gets very violent at times."

"Twenty _years_?" Sarah replied, "No wonder he's gone crazy."

"My friend Charlotte looks out for him. I don't know why, but he listens to her. He thinks of her like a big sister I believe. Charlotte came through with me a few years ago. She was the bridesmaid at my wedding would you believe? I never wanted to marry, but it didn't last long anyway. It was only four months after the ceremony that we discovered the gateway in Charlotte's garden during our afternoon tea. Still, if it wasn't for her, I think Ethan would become more dangerous than he was. She keeps him in line."

"So, where _are_ all these people that you speak of?" Danny asked.

"Not far from here. I was sent to find some food."

"On your own?"

Emily raised an eyebrow at him, "I saved _your_ behind didn't I? What makes you think I can't look after myself? But alright then, if you insist on the full truth, I _went _to find food and I probably didn't mention it to the others."

"Well, we're sure glad you did," Sarah grinned. "Did you get any?"

Emily looked puzzled, "Of course, you just saw me." She gestured at the reptile on the ground and Danny's eyes widened.

"You're going to eat _that _thing?"

"We eat whatever we can get," Emily replied. "I've got thirteen people to feed out here. Or fifteen if you join us. Will you? Should be tender meat, this one was a baby."

Danny and Sarah looked at each other searchingly and finally Danny spoke, "Maybe. But see, Sarah and I have our own rules too. We go through every anomaly. All of them. We don't know how that works with your rule about not going into other human eras…"

"Well I guess if you go through you'd be leaving us then, wouldn't you? So then you wouldn't have to abide by our rules anymore. We're all just people lost in time you know. We've found each other and started our own civilization, if you can call it that. We're friendly, for the most part, and we don't kidnap strangers so you're not a hostage if you decide to leave. Like I said, that rule's mostly for Ethan's sake anyway."

"Then we'll join you," Sarah smiled. "And if you want something different for dinner than… whatever that is…"

"Tree Creeper," Emily interjected.

"Tree Creeper then, we've got some Eocene fruit and mammoth meat in our bags. Not enough for fifteen but there'd be a little bit for everyone to share with whatever you've got."

Emily smiled, "It'll be a lovely change. Come on then, I'll introduce you to the others."

She stood up and Danny and Sarah followed suit. Danny offered to take the rope from Emily and drag the Tree Creeper back for her, but Emily was having none of it and Sarah got the feeling she was trying to prove herself worthy of being the group's leader. Sarah slipped her hand into Danny's and smiled at him as they walked slowly along side the Lady Merchant.

* * *

><p>"You brought a lot of stuff with you," Emily commented after a short while of walking as she glanced at their bulging bags. "The rest of us only had the clothing on our backs or, in Charlotte's case, a porcelain tea cup half full of tea. She still keeps that cup you know. Says it's her only bit of home."<p>

"Yeah, well, like we said, we studied them," Danny responded. "We came somewhat prepared. Not for eleven months of course, we were hoping for a couple hours, but we did have a few supplies. We've gathered more as we went though. The tent and coats and all that are gifts. We were quite a few months with ancient Israelites."

"Really? We've yet to see any other human society. At least I've not. Apparently Ethan's been to Russia at some point, I don't know what time period, and wrecked havoc there if you believe his tales. Why didn't you stay in Israel?"

"We aren't Israeli, we're British," Sarah responded. "We just want to go home."

"Ah, well what if you'd ended up in my time? London, England a hundred years or so before you were born?"

"We miss our friends and the ARC," Sarah replied. "I think we'd have still left."

"Maybe gone shopping for some new boots first though," Danny said. "And some other supplies."

"With what money?" Sarah countered, but she was thinking a new pair of shoes sounded a bit like heaven too.

Danny didn't answer that; he didn't know.

Emily glanced at the animals that were with them and asked, "Your pets, I presume. Did you bring them through with you?"

"No, we found them. They're lost time travellers like the rest of us."

"Ah. Well watch them around Ethan. I daresay he'd shoot them."

"Good to know," Sarah said, glancing at Danny anxiously.

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and a look that promised he wouldn't let that happen.

They hadn't walked far when another woman came running up to them, watching the newcomers curiously. "Emily!" she cried out. "We've been looking all over for you! You've _got _to tell us when you take off."

"I'm leader remember? I can do as I please. Here help me with this tree creeper; he's heavy."

Danny sputtered, "You-you know I offered, right?"

Emily turned to him with a grin, "I know, but I thought it wrong to put you to work so soon after your arrival. You'll get your fair share of chores later." Then she nodded at the woman who was helping her lug the creature. "This is Charlotte whom I told you about."

"Nice to meet you," Danny smiled at the woman. "I'm Danny, this is Sarah. We got lost in time and were travelling the anomalies and, well, here we are."

"Of course you got lost in time," Charlotte replied. "Why else would you be here.? What's an anomaly?"

"He means the gateways," Emily translated as Sarah had done for Danny earlier. "These two'd been researching them before they came through."

"Ah," Charlotte smiled, "Anything you can teach us?"

"No, probably not," Danny admitted. He started to go into further detail, but they'd reached the makeshift camp and his curiosity about the other members of the group made him forget his train of thoughts. He and Sarah gazed at the group who were just starting to light a campfire. So far they'd been yet unnoticed.

"So," Sarah whispered to Emily and Charlotte before they approached, "Which one's Ethan?" She wanted to know who she was supposed to be looking out for.

Emily discreetly pointed across the forest clearing to a man standing and bulking at the others to hurry, but whom wasn't lifting a finger to help them himself. "Right there," she whispered back.

Danny's mouth dropped open in surprise and before Sarah could even begin to ask about it, Danny had dropped everything he was carrying and was running toward the man.

Sarah, Emily and Charlotte looked on, stunned, as Danny pulled Ethan into a bear hug.

"What… what just happened?" Charlotte asked the other two, but they had no answer to give her. Even Ethan was looking at Danny puzzled as he pulled away. But then suddenly he grinned and hugged Danny back. Sarah didn't like the looks of that grin; it looked malicious and deceiving to her, but Danny didn't seem to notice or care.

When she'd heard about Ethan, her plan was to avoid him as much as possible, but she saw now she was going to have to go over if she wanted some answers. She walked unsurely toward them, followed by the pets.

"Danny? What…"

Danny turned as he heard her voice and saw that she'd followed him. "Sarah!" He replied, "It's Patrick! He's my brother!"

And then she understood.

* * *

><p>Sarah sat silently on a log between Danny and Emily as she ate her dinner slowly. Ethan sat at Danny's other side and he spoke to Danny and told him about how he'd ended up there, how he'd been travelling the anomalies for eighteen years. Danny seemed overjoyed to see him and he told Ethan (or was it Patrick?) about their parents and how they now had a sister named Lisa and a bunch of other things. Sarah listened intently as she soaked up any little information about either of them that she could learn, but something was bothering her deeply. She got the feeling that this PatrickEthan character wasn't at all happy to see Danny. There was something wrong with this man. Emily was right. At some point something inside him had snapped and he'd gone crazy in the worst sense of the word. She shivered a bit and Danny turned his attention to her.

"Cold?" he asked gently.

Sarah nodded, not wanting to say the real reason for her shiver, and Danny put his arm around her, cuddling her close and giving her a quick peck on the lips. "I love you," he whispered randomly into her ear before turning his attention back to Ethan.

* * *

><p>Sarah felt a bit bad about setting up her tent with Danny seeing as how none of the others had one, but Emily had insisted. "No, this is about survival. We use everything we've got. No one wants to see a perfectly good tent go to waste, so if you've got one, you use it."<p>

Still, it felt weird. They'd set it up quickly and she'd herded the pets inside, but Danny had gone back to talk to Ethan one more time. He'd remembered just one more story he had to tell him and Sarah decided to stay in the tent. She'd had enough of this guy. She debated whether or not she should voice her fears to Danny. She had a feeling he'd be angry if she spoke so soon against his brother and maybe if she kept quiet he'd see for himself what he was like. On the other hand, she wondered if Danny himself could be in danger around him and she'd never live with herself if Ethan did something to him and she hadn't warned him. In the end she decided she'd ask Charlotte to talk to Danny for her. Charlotte knew Ethan more than anyone else, Emily had said, and maybe she could convince Danny of his character.

She slipped out of the tent and pulled Charlotte away from the others.

"You've a right to be concerned," Charlotte confirmed after Sarah had told her her fears. "Brothers or not, Ethan is _bad _news."

"So you'll talk to him?"

"I will," Charlotte promised. "As soon as Ethan heads off for his walk. He does every night you know and he's gone for hours. Sometimes he lets me join him, sometimes he doesn't and there's times when even I'm scared of him, though I daresay he'd never hurt me. The things that he talks about when I'm walking with him, well I won't repeat them but they keep me awake most the night with nightmares. Let me tell you this, Sarah, and I don't mean to scare you more, but you should be aware that Ethan has thought of nothing more for years than getting a hold of your Danny to kill him. He blames Danny for not rescuing him sooner."

"Exactly what I was scared of," Sarah muttered. She decided then and there to stay awake as long as possible and keep a watch on the tent tonight. But already she didn't know if she'd be able to do that. She was exhausted. They'd been awake for nearly two days because of the time difference from here to the Ice Age and her joints were aching badly. She took a step to go back to the tent and suddenly a wave of nausea swept over her.

Charlotte immediately grabbed her arm, "Sarah, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Sarah muttered, "I just don't feel so well."

"Well that's not 'fine' then, is it? C'mon, I'll help you get to bed."

"I'm really okay. I think it's just exhaustion and stress and worry and all that."

But Charlotte looked concerned and placed her hand gently on Sarah's forehead, "It's not that," she said. "You're burning up, Girl. You've got a fever."

She called to a young man and introduced him as being named Marc, but Sarah was feeling weaker by the moment as this, whatever it was, suddenly hit her full force. "Marc, can you carry her back to her tent? She's sick as a dog. I'm going to get her some water and find Danny."

Marc nodded and lifted Sarah into his arms, but that's all Sarah remembered before she passed out.


	24. Picking Sides

Charlotte returned to the tent with a homemade water skin filled with freshly boiled water and nodded to Marc who was watching over Sarah helplessly.

"Take this," she told him. "Sprinkle a bit on her forehead and see if you can't rouse her. If you do, make sure she drinks the rest. I have to find Danny. Do _not _leave her side until either Danny or myself returns here. I don't care if she wakes up and tells you she's fine; she's got a fever. She could be delirious for all I know. You understand?"

Marc nodded and Charlotte smiled to herself knowing that he wouldn't let her down.

She left the tent and looked for Danny at the campfire but she found no sign of him there, nor were they at Ethan's tent. That's when she began to panic. She wondered if Ethan had lured Danny away with him on his nightly walk with evil intentions. At least Ethan had let her join him sometimes, and she knew his regular route. She went hurrying after him now.

It didn't take her long to catch up as they hadn't gotten far at all yet. She saw the look that Ethan gave her as she called them and she knew instantly that her fears were confirmed. She breathed a sigh of relief that she'd gotten to them on time.

"Did you want to help me?" Ethan asked her sarcastically and Charlotte shuddered at the suggestion.

"Help you what?" Danny asked. "I'll help you with whatever you want."

Ethan burst out laughing, "Would you? Well alright then, sure you can help."

"Oh no, he can't," Charlotte said firmly. "Danny, you're coming back with me right now. Sarah's sick; she's in a bad way."

"_What?" _Danny looked instantly concerned and began to run back toward the camp.

"_Danny! Wait!_" Charlotte called after him, but she couldn't keep up in her long dress. Shoot. She'd wanted to have her talk with Danny on the way back.

"Why'd you go and do that for?" Ethan asked angrily.

"Ethan, you are _not _to harm your brother in any way," Charlotte ordered. "I mean it."

"Charlotte, you know what he did to me. I have to. Revenge is the only goal I've got."

"Ethan, stop. It's _not _Danny's fault that you stepped through that anomaly."

"He didn't come looking for me. He never came and found me."

"Of course he did. He's here isn't he? Your goal was to find _him _and take revenge but he found you first. Doesn't that tell you something? _I _don't want you to harm him."

For a moment she caught a look in Ethan's eyes, a softer, friendlier look, but she still wasn't sure she trusted him when he replied, "Of course Charlotte. I'll do whatever you ask, Charlotte."

"You won't harm him?" She confirmed directly, and then as an after thought ordered, "Or Sarah or their pets?"

"Well now you're asking for an awful lot, aren't you? I'll make you that promise, but I don't want a relationship with any of them so unless you keep them far away from me, I just might accidentally forget my word."

"Yeah well just… don't," Charlotte demanded, hoping he'd listen to her as he usually did.

"Charlotte, do you like me?" Ethan asked her. He asked it often and Charlotte knew that it was her affirmation that bound him to her. She was his only friend in the world.

"Of course I do, Ethan, that's why I try to teach you right from wrong you see. I want you to know the important things and it's important you don't harm Danny."

Ethan smiled at her, "Would you continue with me on my walk?"

Charlotte didn't want to, she wanted to check up on Sarah and have her little talk with Danny about staying away, but she knew that Ethan would be angry if she didn't agree so she went with him and hoped to catch the others later.

* * *

><p>Danny held Sarah's hand tightly, pleading with her to wake up. She did once. Her eyes opened briefly and she muttered, "Danny, I don't feel so good."<p>

"It's alright," he reassured her. "Have some water." But she was already asleep again.

It was another hour or two before Charlotte arrived to check on them. "Where were you?" Danny snapped.

"With Ethan," Charlotte ignored his tone, "Is she okay?"

"His name's Patrick."

"He asked me to call him Ethan so I'll continue to do so. I need to talk to you about him Danny, but first, I need to deal with Sarah. Has she woken up at all yet?"

Danny turned his attention back to his girlfriend and nodded, "Once. What's wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure yet. Pass me the water skin."

Danny did so and Charlotte poured some onto a handkerchief that'd been in her pocket, placing it on Sarah's forehead. "We need to bring her fever down. How long was she awake for?"

"A few seconds. She said she wasn't feeling well and went back to sleep."

"She was exhausted."

"Is that what this is? Exhaustion? Stress?"

Charlotte shook her head, "No, she's caught something. How long ago were you last with people?"

"I guess we left the Israelites three weeks ago or so? Maybe not quite. We were a couple weeks in the Eocene and about four days in the Ice age. I don't remember anyone being sick though."

"Could you have just not known about it?"

"Possibly."

"You need to leave the tent; I'm going to undress her and look for any rashes or anything."

"I'm not leaving her, especially with _you,_" Danny snapped.

Charlotte looked up at him, "Danny are you angry with me?"

"What do you think? You go on and on earlier, you and Emily, about how evil Patrick is, and how he's dangerous and crazy! _No one _calls my brother crazy."

"He's killed people, Danny. He wants to kill you." Charlotte spoke calmly and gently.

"That's not true."

Charlotte laid a hand on his shoulder, "Danny, Ethan told me he doesn't want a relationship with you. He's not the boy that you lost eighteen years ago. The anomalies have driven him crazy. He blames you for not looking for him and he wants revenge. He needs help but he can't get it here."

Danny stared at her for a moment and then said, "I can help him."

"No, you can't. He told me that he wants you, and Sarah, to leave him alone. He won't hurt you if you do that, I believe, but don't go trying to get close to him. Not yet."

"He's my brother."

"I know, and Sarah's your girlfriend and you need to be around to protect her, so listen to me, okay? And also, get out of the tent."

Danny obeyed then. He found Emily still awake by the campfire, though around them most other people had fallen asleep.

Emily nodded in his direction when he approached her.

"Emily, you're the leader here, right?"

"Yes, you know that."

"I need to talk to you."

Emily motioned him over to a log and they sat down.

"You know Sarah's sick?" Danny asked first.

"I know. Marc told me. I've ordered the others to stay away in case she's contagious. I'd tell you the same but…"

"But you know it'd be useless."

"Exactly."

"Charlotte's with her now."

"Charlotte has a talent with healing people. She had children at home you know, I guess she learned a lot from that. I don't like her taking risks with her health, but someone has to look after Sarah and if anyone can help, it's her."

"Do you study people?"

Emily looked at Danny, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Back home, I was the leader of my team too. I used to watch people, study them, see how they'd react in different situations. I found it useful when making decisions about who to send where, what jobs to give people. I studied them."

"I do that," Emily agreed. "I study the Time Tribe."

"Time Tribe?"

"It's what we call ourselves. I study the members of it."

"Is Patrick, Ethan, whatever you call him, really _that _bad?"

Emily closed her eyes for a moment before responding, "You remember that Tree Creeper we had for supper?"

Danny nodded, "The one that almost had me for supper you mean? Yeah, I definitely remember that."

"I've seen Ethan kill the adult ones with his bare hands, easily. He's strong and violent and he becomes almost animal like. We've got an old man with us who is blind because Ethan ripped his eyeballs…"

"Stop!" Danny shuddered, "I don't want to hear it. I just… How? How could the young Patrick I remember turn into _this? _And yet, and yet I feel like I can trust you. I don't want to believe it, but I do. Still, he's my brother. I feel like I have to do _something. _He's my responsibility you know."

They were interrupted when Charlotte emerged from the tent and strolled over to them. Her face looked grim.

"She's got the rash and even a few pimples around her mouth," she informed them. "It's smallpox. She must have picked it up in Israel."

Emily winced at the words and Danny stared at the both. "Smallpox? is that bad? Why's she just getting it now, we've been weeks from Israel?"

Charlotte shrugged, "It's certainly not good. We don't have medicines for it here, though Ethan's told me before that you can cure most anything in the future. It takes two weeks sometimes to show symptoms and maybe it was slower because of the freezing temperature of the ice age. Either way, now that the rash has appeared she's going to be highly contagious. I don't want anyone near her."

"You can't stop me," Danny replied.

"She's not badly infected yet, Danny," Charlotte replied, "and I think I can cure her. But it'll take all my time and concentration and I can't be dividing it up between you both if you get sick too."

Danny frowned and then nodded, "I'll be at the tent entrance watching you work, but I won't get too close."

"Fine," Charlotte nodded, knowing it was the best she'd get out of him. Then she turned to Emily, "You and Marc both had contact with Sarah earlier, so let me know if you don't feel well at all. Hopefully you won't catch anything. You weren't around her much."

"What about you?" Danny asked.

Charlotte shrugged, "No one dies on my watch. You worry about yourselves, I'll worry about me. Got it?"

Danny nodded, knowing that it was all he could do because Sarah needed help and while he'd risk his life for Charlotte or anyone else here whether he knew them or not, Sarah meant the most to him and Danny didn't know what to do to help her himself.

"Now keep the campfire going and bring me as much boiled water as you can, just keep it coming," Charlotte ordered Danny. "Emily, you go and find some of those strong smelling herbs that grow by the stream."

Danny raised his eyebrows, "I thought Emily was the one in charge."

"Not when it comes to illnesses," Emily laughed, "That's her specialty and I let her at it. Let's go."


	25. Locked Out

The days passed slowly and while Sarah slept a lot, Danny didn't sleep at all. He was too worried about her. The only time Charlotte or Emily let him approach was when Sarah would wake up and ask for him. Even then they made him stand only close enough that Sarah could see he was there. Eventually though, Sarah began to stay awake longer and then she started ordering Danny to leave too.

"I don't need _you _sick when I'm better," she pointed out to him, "So don't catch this, okay?"

Danny sighed but obeyed, wondering how he'd gone from team leader to being ordered around by three stubborn women.

For a couple days he saw no sign of his brother and he wondered where he could possibly have gotten to, but Patrick came back suddenly one afternoon and demanded that Danny move from away from the tent entrance where he was standing watching Charlotte administer healing technique after healing technique upon Sarah's rashes.

Danny glanced at him. "Hey, I owe you an apology, Pat, for that first evening here I mean. Charlotte told me that you weren't ready to get to know me yet. I guess I was so happy to see you that I didn't think you might not want to see me. So, you know, if I overstepped some boundaries…"

Patrick looked at him, curiously for a moment and then stated simply, "Move. I need to talk with Charlotte."

Danny did. He didn't trust his brother anymore, but he knew that Charlotte would protect Sarah if needed and he didn't go far just in case. In fact, he remained within earshot of the entire conversation and it seemed that Patrick was trying to get Charlotte to leave the tent.

"Char, you'll get sick too!" he cried in a frustrated tone.

"Ethan, I've been exposed for days. If I'm going to catch it, I probably already have. Where've you been anyway?"

"Walking. Hunting. Thinking. None of your business really. I came back and heard what's going on with you and Sarah and I won't have it. You're risking your life."

"And it's mine to risk, isn't it? As I've said before, _no_ one dies on my watch. I'm not leaving her. Anyway, Emily's in charge, not you, and she said I could stay. However, I'd suggest _you _leave before you get sick too."

Danny heard silence for a moment and then he was stunned to hear his brother reply sincerely, "Charlotte, fine, you know the risks so I'll let you decide, but if you do get sick you'd better come get me. I'll take care of you."

"I know you would, Ethan. Now skedaddle so I can concentrate on my patient would you?"

"Ethan?" Danny was surprised to hear Sarah's voice suddenly enter the conversation.

"What?" Ethan snapped at her.

"Danny loves you."

Ethan stormed out of the tent and Danny quickly turned his attention to the campfire so it wouldn't be known that he'd been eavesdropping.

"Where's Emily?" Ethan demanded to no one in particular. Someone Danny didn't really know pointed to the trail that went toward the river and Ethan headed that way while Danny returned to his post by Sarah's tent.

* * *

><p>Emily looked around when she heard her name being called and she winced when she saw who it was. "Can I help you?" she asked.<p>

"You need to order Charlotte to leave Sarah alone."

Emily knew immediately understood his concern. She was concerned herself; Charlotte was her best friend.

"Ethan, I would if I could."

"Of course you can; you're the team leader."

"Charlotte has a nurturing spirit in her. She wouldn't listen, not in this situation. We've seen it before, Ethan. Charlotte would nurse a sick fly back to health if she could. You know it as well as I do. She'd be miserable."

"What about _me_?" he whined, "I'll be miserable if she gets sick."

"I'm not going to do it, Ethan."

His expression changed and he sneered at her, "She likes you. If it wasn't for that I'd kill you now and take charge of the Time Tribe myself. Still, I can put up with you for her sake. But if anything happens to her, it'll be your fault and I _will _get my revenge then."

Emily shuddered as he stormed away.

* * *

><p>Two weeks after Sarah's illness had begun, Charlotte suddenly came out of the tent with a grin on her face. "She's got fewer sores now! And she's hungry."<p>

Danny whooped loudly as he leapt up from the log he'd been sitting on with Emily by the campfire, because that could only be a good thing. "Can I sit with her yet?" he asked.

Charlotte shook her head, "She'll be contagious until the last sore is gone, but I don't think she'll get worse again. She's a fighter."

"How much longer?" Danny asked impatiently.

"Few more days, maybe. We'll see." She went back into the tent.

Danny grinned too happy to really care that he couldn't go sit with her just that instant and he turned to Emily, "Did you hear that? She's getting better!"

Emily gave a brief nod and stood up, walking quickly away. Danny frowned, "Emily?" he asked going after her.

She didn't respond, but it was quite clear that she was upset about something, so Danny placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking. "Emily, what's wrong?"

"Are you _that_ unobservant? Did you not see?" she asked, fighting back tears.

Danny shook his head, wondering what was going on. The only thing he'd heard was that Sarah was getting better.

"_Charlotte_ is sick!" Emily snapped at him.

"Oh," Danny replied, instantly feeling bad. He hadn't noticed at all. "How-how could you tell?"

"She's got the rash, she had sores all around her mouth, and did you notice how pale she was?"

Emily actually looked a little pale herself, with worry, and Danny pulled her into a hug.

* * *

><p>"Charlotte?" Danny said softly, stepping into the tent.<p>

"Not yet, Danny," Charlotte waved him off.

"Charlotte, let me look after you."

Charlotte shook her head, "Don't be silly, Danny. You'll catch this. Besides, you don't know what you're doing."

"You can tell me."

"That's not going to happen. I'll look after myself and Sarah can return the favour as soon as she's feeling better. You can't get it twice you know."

"And Sarah will be glad to, but she's currently asleep and you're not getting any better as we speak," Danny argued.

"I'm well enough."

"Then wake up Sarah to look after you now."

"No, Danny. If she's going to recover, she needs her sleep. She's not likely to get worse now, but she's very weak. All that time you guys were travelling she should have been resting and it caught up with her quickly."

"And what about you? When was the last time you slept?"

"I catch forty winks now and then. Really, Danny, I'm alright."

It was a blatant fib and they both knew it. Emily appeared at Danny's side a moment later and ordered him away from the sick tent.

"But…" Danny protested.

"She's made her choice, Danny. Do you think I need her _and _you being sick?"

Danny grumbled about it and stormed off in the opposite direction. He was team leader; he was supposed to be risking his life for others and not the other way around. He felt horrible and guilty. Hesitating, he suddenly had an idea: his brother. His brother would help convince them that Charlotte needed to be cared for.

Danny made his way over to the river, which was the last place he'd seen Patrick and walked until he found him.

"Pat?" Danny spoke cautiously. "I need your help."

Patrick glared at him, "Why would I help you? You left me stranded for eighteen years and now you show up and ask for _my _help? You're crazier than I am. Do you have any idea what it's like to not have a way home?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah, I do. Sarah and I were trapped a year ago, Patrick. We've hit a lot of rough spots and now we're here."

"At least you had each other. I had no one."

"I did my best to save you, Patrick. Everything I've done has been about getting you back. There are only a handful of people in the world who know about the anomalies and I'm one of them. Doesn't that tell you something? Doesn't that tell you that I spent every moment figuring out what happened to you?"

"I'm not helping you."

"Then help Charlotte. This is about her."

Patrick looked up then, "What about Charlotte?"

"She's sick. I tried to get her to rest and let me care for her, but she won't. Emily's ordered me away now too. She's still looking after Sarah and I think that all Sarah needs now is some sleep. She won't listen to me. I hoped she would you."

Patrick looked hurt and turned away from Danny, tossing a few rocks into the river that had been in his hand. "She won't listen to me either. Emily was right; she cared too much and it'll be her own downfall."

Then his looked changed to an angry one and he started to storm off before yelling to Danny, "Get me some boiling water. She might not listen to me, but I'll tend to her whether she likes it or not. I don't have to listen to her either you know."

Danny grinned to himself, feeling like he'd won.

* * *

><p>Patrick, or Ethan, whoever he was, had made good on his word. He tended Charlotte carefully, but she still seemed to be getting weaker while Sarah was growing stronger. Sarah tried to help him but he pushed her away, telling her he didn't want her help and that he could care for Charlotte on his own.<p>

"I owe her though," Sarah replied. "I need to pay off my debt."

"Then you can fetch water," Ethan snapped. "But wait until tomorrow. You're contagious still. There's a couple sores left on you."

"What about you?"

Ethan shrugged, "Well hopefully I won't catch them, but I daresay you'll all be happy to get rid of me and are wishing for the opposite."

"That's not true."

"Whatever," he shrugged. "You don't have to be nice to me because I'm your boyfriend's brother you know. I'd have been much happier to see you dead than Charlotte sick."

"_Ethan," _Charlotte protested his words as she woke slightly up.

Ethan turned his attention to her and ignored Sarah from then on.

* * *

><p>Sarah's sores weren't gone by the next day and she still felt exhausted. She tried to get up once, but fell back down, almost passing out with the exertion. She might be on the mend, she decided, but she was still too weak to move around a lot. She fell back to sleep.<p>

* * *

><p>The blipping started suddenly, startling everyone at the campfire and they looked at Danny expectantly as he pulled the anomaly detector from his pocket. "It's not far," he told the group, "A couple miles maybe, but no more."<p>

Ethan suddenly emerged from the tent with his own detector and carrying Charlotte in his arms. "Anomaly," he stated simply. "I'm going through."

Emily jumped up, "Ethan you can't. Charlotte can't travel right now, she's too sick."

"She's beyond my capabilities," Ethan snapped back. "Who knows? Maybe we can get her help on the other side."

Danny shook his head, "That's crazy. You're more likely to find more trouble."

Emily turned to Danny, "What about you? You said you travel them all, didn't you?"

Danny nodded, "That was me and Sarah's rule, yes, but she's in no state to travel. It's too risky for her health right now. She can't run from dinosaurs. It's not a risk I can take. I don't want her getting worse, and I don't want her to be a dino's breakfast. We'll stay with the group until she's well."

"And_ not_ going through is a risk _I _can't take," Ethan said pointedly. "Sarah's on the mend, but Charlotte's gotten worse: a lot worse. I _have _to find her medicine because otherwise, she's going to die."

"And what are the chances of her getting help on the other side?" Danny pointed out.

"Slim," Ethan replied logically, "but I don't think she's got_ any_ chance here. I'm taking her through."

"And I'm staying." He stood up and moved towards his brother, the rest of the group watching them. "Patrick, I always vowed that if I found you, I wouldn't let you out of my sight ever again. But we're both adults and we've lived very different lives and I need to learn to let you go. I'm always going to love you and I hope I'll run into you again soon and I _really _hope that Charlotte gets well, but I have to choose and Sarah just isn't well enough to travel. I can't lose her."

Patrick stared at him, "I'll wish you luck mate, but I am _not _gonna hug you if that's what you want."

Danny grinned and slapped him on the back, "No worries, just… take care."

Patrick turned then and, still carrying Charlotte, went to move forward but suddenly he was stopped by Emily.

"Wait! Ethan! I'm coming too."

Ethan turned and looked at her, "I thought you hated going through them."

"Well I do and, unlike half of you, I've no real desire to return home anyway but…" she gestured at Charlotte, "We came through the first one together and we made a pact not to leave each other. She's my best friend too, you know."

"Well hurry up then," Ethan ordered and glanced around at the others, "Anyone else?"

No one else really expressed any interest though. They mostly said they'd been through too many and felt discouraged travelling them now as one place usually led to somewhere worse. They'd made this place their home and become a sort of family. Emily nodded in their direction then, "If we don't come back, Danny's in charge."

"Me?" Danny asked her, "I'm the newbie."

"You also have the detector, have researched the anomalies, and were some sort of leader where you came from. You're the best choice."

"I'll follow Danny," the man named Marc piped up.

Danny smiled, humbled by the votes of confidence and gave Emily a quick hug, "Thanks. If you don't find what you need, hurry back, eh?"

"We'll try," Emily promised. "See you in a bit." And they set off.

* * *

><p>They didn't return within a half day and Danny began to get worried that something could have happened to them. Sarah was still asleep, but Danny set out to see if he could meet them coming back. He figured it'd be a couple of hours walking and he took a rope lasso and knife for protection, but he didn't make his intentions known just yet as he didn't want the Time Tribe to know he was worried.<p>

He was approaching the area where he thought the anomaly must be when he suddenly heard something that sounded sickeningly like an angry Tree Creeper and a man yelling. He began to run, hoping that Patrick was holding his own and protecting the girls.

He was in sight of the anomaly just in time to see a tree creeper chase a man that he didn't recognize through the anomaly. The man looked unfamiliar, but he had been carrying Emily. Danny didn't have time to puzzle over the situation. He ran forward determined to protect the others, when to his amazement, the Tree Creeper fell back through to his side, unconscious.

And then the anomaly suddenly locked. Danny stared at if for a moment and then his jaw dropped in astonishment as he realised what he was looking at. The anomaly was still there, it hadn't _closed _it was just locked. This meant that someone on the other side had a locking mechanism. Which mean that… His heart sunk as he realised that home was right on the other side and he'd missed it. He'd promised Sarah they'd go through every anomaly and the _one _he'd chosen not to, led to home. And now it was too late.


	26. Sitting and Waiting

"Nooooo!" Danny shouted frantically as he raced toward the locked anomaly, hoping that it would reopen.

He began banging on it, knocking and yelling for whoever was on the other side to open it for him, as if it were a simple door instead of a magnetic gateway through time. He knew well enough that no one on the other end would hear him, but he couldn't seem to stop his frantic attempt to somehow get their attention. When no one responded to his knocking and kicking, he began hurling rocks at it, attempting to smash the thing if necessary, but it didn't break and the rocks just bounced off, falling to the ground again.

It was the slightly groggy movement coming from the tree creeper beside him as it woke up that made Danny realise he wasn't thinking sanely. He had to get out of there before it found its strength again and there was no point in hanging around the anomaly site right now. Even if it _did _open again, he couldn't go through: not without Sarah. The temptation to step through and tell the others to wait would be there of course, but he couldn't risk it closing between them, so he couldn't even do that. He turned and fled up hill in the direction he'd come, running full sprint to find her.

"Sarah! Sarah!" he shouted as they approached the camp, "We have to go!"

Sarah had been sleeping in the tent again, but Danny's commotion woke her up before he reached it. She stared at him as he burst through the flaps yelling, but then he stopped in his tracks, suddenly remembering that she was still sick.

He knelt by her side gently and reached for her hand. "Sarah, are you feeling alright?"

She nodded, "Yes, just really tired still, but Danny, you shouldn't be here, not for another day or two. The last of these sores have to disappear yet."

"It's important, Sarah. I'm so sorry; it's all my fault." And then he burst into tears as Sarah sat up, puzzled by his behaviour.

"Danny, Danny, what is it?" she asked, torn between wanting to comfort him and not wanting him to get sick.

Danny realised that Sarah probably hadn't even been told about the anomaly yet as no one wanted to venture near her and risk getting sick themselves. He took a deep breath and refused to look at her as he said simply, "There's an anomaly."

"Oh," Sarah muttered, forcing herself to sit up. "Is it close?"

"Close enough. Closer than some. Still a bit of a walk."

"Is…" Sarah hesitated, "Is it strong enough to wait until tomorrow, Danny? I don't feel so good still."

"I know that, _Sarah!" _he snapped, frustrated, angry only at himself. "I _told _them that!"

"Danny," Sarah said gently. "You're going to have to start from the beginning I think. What's going on?"

"We made a pact, Sarah; we said we'd go through them _all_, but I changed that without asking you. I told Ethan and all them that we weren't going because_ you_ were too sick. I didn't want to risk it, Sarah. I didn't want to risk _you._"

"Danny it's okay, but it's still open isn't it?"

"Sort of," he muttered and then turned to her. "Sarah, if you'd known, would you have insisted on going through earlier? Or would you have agreed to stay this time?" He had to know if he'd at least done what Sarah would have wanted.

"I'd have stayed here," Sarah said. "I'd have done the same, Danny, because I _know _you'd have done something dumb on the other side while trying to protect me and gotten yourself hurt or worse instead. We both need to be alert and on our A-Game and when someone is sick, all rules change. It's fine. But why are you so upset with the decision if it's open?"

"Patrick went through with Charlotte and Emily and now…" Danny hesitated and then said quickly, "Now, it's locked."

It took a few moments for Sarah to register what he'd said and when she did, her eyes filled with such horror and pain that Danny almost wished he hadn't told her. But he'd had too, because _if _it reopened, he planned on them both being there.

"We have to go quickly," he told her gently. "Maybe they'll unlock it. We should go wait beside it."

She nodded and they packed a few belongings, mostly their jackets, one blanket, knives, the detector and Sarah had her comb and the little wooden camel carving she'd gotten from Miriam, but they left the rest. They wouldn't need it if they could get home and the rest of the Time Tribe could make use of the can of spam and the tent and other blankets, Danny was sure. All he and Sarah needed was enough to get by while they sat in front of the anomaly and waited, for however long that might be, for it to open. And it _would_ open, it _had _too. Neither of them were willing to consider any alternatives at the moment.

By the time they reached it they found the tree creeper had gone and Danny was glad about that. Danny stared at the anomaly and Sarah walked around it slowly, thoughtfully, as if trying to figure out how to open it on her own. She tried knocking in the same way that he'd done earlier, and then blushed as she looked at him.

"Won't work," Danny informed her with a grin. "I tried already."

She smiled and he could see she felt not quite as silly as she had a moment earlier, so he continued. "I've also managed to rule out yelling, hitting, kicking and throwing rocks at it."

Sarah laughed then and spread the blanket out on the ground before sitting on it. "In that case, I'm all out of ideas at the moment. Maybe I'll think of something brilliant when I feel better."

"How_ are_ you feeling?" Danny asked her, instantly concerned.

Sarah shrugged, "Better all the time, but it was adrenaline that got me to this site and I have to admit, I need to sleep again."

Danny sat beside her. "Sleep then, Sare, I'll watch the anomaly."

"You shouldn't really be near me."

"I know, but I've got a good immune system and you're almost over it. Besides, Charlotte and Emily aren't around to scold me anymore so I'll take my chances."

Sarah chuckled a bit and lay down, resting her head in Danny's lap as she closed her eyes. "If you get sick, it's all your fault."

"I'll be fine, just so long as you aren't expecting any kisses."

"No kisses," Sarah murmured as she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>When Sarah awoke, she noticed that she must have slept the entire afternoon and night away. The sky was light grey and pink with the coming dawn. Sarah found herself feeling a hundred times better than she had before and she sat up with renewed energy and smiled at Danny.<p>

"Have you not moved all night? Why don't you rest now, Danny? I can keep watch."

He nodded, too exhausted to reply much and lay back to close his own eyes. Despite the lack of sleep over the past few days, he slept only a few hours before waking up again.

"Up already?" Sarah asked him, teasingly.

Danny shrugged, "Even in sleep I was worried about you keeping watch alone when you're sick."

"Now that's sweet, but I'm fine Danny. I feel so much better today."

Danny cupped her chin in his hand and examined her face with a smile, "Your sores are gone too, other than a few tiny scars. Maybe you aren't contagious any more."

"Hopefully, then I could quit worrying about you," she agreed. "But what now? We just sit here and stare at this thing until it either opens or closes?"

"Yeah, that's about it."

"I'm glad it went to the present," Sarah said suddenly.

"Are you? I'd feel a lot happier about that fact if we'd gone through it."

"But Danny, the others, they _did _go through it. Maybe it won't be too late for Charlotte on that side. Maybe… I dunno, but she has to get better. It'd be my fault if she dies you know."

Danny put an arm around Sarah and risked a kiss to her temple, "Sarah don't think like that. It was Charlotte's choice, not yours. But you're right, and just think, my brother would have made it home after eighteen years! It _is _good."

"But why wouldn't they have told anyone? Why haven't they come back for us?"

Danny didn't answer for a moment and then shrugged, "I dunno, Sare. Maybe something happened on that side? Maybe they were just so focused on Charlotte and they still will. Let's hope they remember before it closes, yeah?"

"For all we know, it _doesn't _go home. Maybe it goes to fifty years in the future of our time. They could still close it then."

"I'd still go through, maybe they'd have the technology by then to open it and send us back to the right time."

"True."

"They'll be back for us at any moment, Sare. I'm sure of it," Danny replied certainly. He knew his brother had meant to harm him, but he also felt their relationship had developed past that point now and Patrick wouldn't _really_ abandon him out here, would he?

Sarah knew what he was thinking and sighed, "He was unstable, Danny. If Charlotte died… Well, it's better we _are _away from him. He'd blame us both you know. And Emily. I do hope she's not in danger from him. He might not come back for us and you know it."

"Let's not think like that, Sarah. Let's just focus all our energy on wishing this thing open."

Sarah giggled, "I'm not so sure that'll work, Danny."

"Better idea?"

"None, but still…"

And then suddenly the anomaly disappeared completely.


	27. Moving On

Neither Danny nor Sarah said anything when the anomaly disappeared before their eyes. It seemed to both of them that there wasn't anything _to _say. Rather, Sarah looked down at the ground and began to fiddle with a weed that was growing up out of the dirt and Danny watched her, trying to gauge her reaction and whether or not she was alright.

He figured that almost an hour had passed before he couldn't stand the silence anymore . He stood up and brushed off his jeans, well aware that Sarah's attention had immediately switched from the weeds to himself, and then scooped up a stone and tossed it at the place where the anomaly had been.

"Guess we're not going home that way," he said casually with a shrug, as if it didn't matter in the least bit.

"Guess not," Sarah replied softly, but for the first time Danny got the hint of a reaction from her in the breaking up of her voice.

"You alright?" he asked her gently.

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, fine really. I guess I just thought maybe we'd get home this time."

Danny reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet, "Next time, Sare. Next time we'll get home then." He tugged at her hand to draw her close enough that he could envelope her in a hug. The motion was all it took for Sarah to burst into tears as she buried her face into his chest.

Even while crying though, she let out a small chuckle, "See, I told you I'm fine."

Danny let out a low laugh himself, "About as fine as I am, I'm sure. I happen to think you're quite brave, Sare."

"Do you?"

"Absolutely."

Sarah pulled away from him a bit, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, "What do we do now?"

Danny shrugged, "Any suggestions?"

"You're team leader, Danny. You've got to decide."

Danny plonked himself back down onto the ground. "Haven't been doing so well with that though. Have I?"

"You couldn't have known this would go home, Danny. It wasn't your fault. I'll follow you whatever you do."

Danny reached for her hand and pulled her down beside him. When she was seated, he draped his arm around her shoulder. "Sometimes, I'm not sure if that's a good thing," he commented.

Sarah leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Doesn't matter if it is or isn't, really."

Danny kissed her temple. "Sarah, do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"Hmmm, a pretty good one actually, Danny, seeing as I feel the same."

"Good," Danny responded quietly. They fell into silence again, but it wasn't like before when the anomaly had first disappeared. They felt more comforted by each other's touch now and they were thinking more about how to move on than what they'd missed out on.

Finally Danny spoke again. "It could reopen yet, you know. I won't give up hope yet. I think we should stay here until it either reopens, or another one appears."

"Danny, Emily put you in charge of the Time Tribe. They're probably wondering where we've been. Maybe we should move the entire camp here."

"You think?"

"Could be safer to stick together. There's still tree creepers out here and we don't know how long it could take."

"We donated our tent to them though, I'd feel bad taking it back."

Sarah chuckled, "They don't know that. We never told them. It's probably still just sitting there."

"I suppose. What if it reopens while we're packing up?"

"Then the handheld will detect it and we'll run back."

"Faster than Temple and Becker can drive to re-lock it on us?"

"Fast as a cheetah," Sarah teased. "C'mon. We won't be long."

"If we tell them, they might all want to go through."

"None are from our time and they have that rule about intruding in other human eras. I don't think they will actually."

Danny stared at the empty air where the anomaly had been a moment longer and then nodded, "Let's go get them then."

* * *

><p>The detector didn't go off as the anomaly stayed closed. The entire group followed them to the spot on Danny's orders, but as predicted, they wished the couple luck and stated that they wouldn't go through if it did reopen. Danny didn't really mind either way, but he supposed it <em>was <em>for the best as they didn't want to mess up history or anything like that.

"If it does reopen," Danny told Marc seriously one evening as they sat on a log by a campfire, "I'm leaving you in charge."

Marc looked at him in surprise. "Me? Why? I'm younger than a lot of these guys."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"Old enough. I trust you. You were the first to say you'd follow me when Emily made me leader, and more importantly, you were also there to help Sarah when she first fell sick."

"Anyone would have done the same."

"But they didn't, and you did."

Marc shrugged, but Danny could see he was pleased. Sarah joined them a moment later, sitting on the other side of Danny and handing them a bowl of food each.

"What is this?" Danny asked her.

"Stewed Tree Creeper."

Danny sighed, "Same as every day this month then."

"And yet you still didn't recognize it," Sarah teased back. "Really, Danny, you shouldn't have had to ask."

"Well I was _hoping _you'd have found something new to stew today," Danny laughed. "But I suppose there's always tomorrow. At least you're a good cook so it doesn't taste bad on top of being repetitive."

Marc watched their playful banter with a smile before commenting, "You guys are lucky to have each other. The rest of us don't have much hope with finding true love, seeing as we're quite the mismatched group."

Danny nodded, "I know I'm lucky to have her." Sarah smiled at that as he continued, "But Marc, you guys seem to have given up on getting home. Why don't you keep trying?"

He shrugged, "It just seems that the more we stay in one spot, the larger our group gets as people find us and join us. We do go through, sometimes. If someone wants to we'll vote on it. Or if we get tired of one place, or the weather turns bad for the winter, then we might go through."

"What time are you from originally?"

"1914."

"Oh, wow, so you just missed out on a pretty big war then…" Sarah said, surprised.

"It had started by the time I discovered the anomalies. I was too young to fight then. I've been travelling them for seven years."

"So you were only twelve when you stepped through?" Sarah asked incredulously, wondering how anyone so young could have survived.

"Seven _and a half_ years," Marc corrected himself. "I was eleven. I was with my mum for awhile, but a creature got her soon after my fourteenth birthday."

"I'm so sorry."

Marc shrugged, "It's what happens out here. Sooner or later one'll get me too."

"Such positive thinking," Danny said.

Marc chuckled, "Well I suppose it's only fair if a tree creeper eats me, after all, I eat_ them_ all the time. Payback."

"Right," Danny replied, standing and reaching for Sarah's hand to join him. He was tired and didn't really feel like dwelling on thoughts about being eaten at the moment. "I'm off to bed."

* * *

><p>They'd lived in this world for a long time, Danny noted, but he'd lost track of time again. He knew they'd been here much longer than they'd been anywhere else, and still no signs of an anomaly had opened. He didn't know why they were so rare in these parts, but he was half thinking they'd never open here again and wondering if they should move the camp to another location. Maybe if they moved fifty miles or so, they'd find a more common place for them. He didn't voice the thoughts aloud yet though. He didn't know what Sarah's reaction would be to leaving the place where "their" anomaly had opened and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to himself.<p>

"Danny?" Sarah asked a bit sheepishly as she entered the tent, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hmmm?" Danny looked up from Molly-Spratt who he'd been petting in his lap.

"I thought we could have dinner alone tonight, inside."

Danny looked at her curiously as she sat beside him. "Why?"

"I just, I wanted to. We'll pretend it's a proper date."

"Alright," Danny nodded.

It wasn't until he saw the dinner that he knew something was up. "Sarah! That's spam!"

"It's a little piece of home. I'm tired of tree creeper. We all are. There's only so many ways you can cook it, you know."

"But don't you think we should be saving that?"

"Too late, I've opened it, so we've gotta eat it now."

"Sarah…"

"It'll go bad if we don't. It won't last after it's opened."

"But why didn't you ask me?"

Sarah shrugged, "I just, I needed something different tonight and I was afraid you'd say no."

Danny reached to give her a backrub. "It _will _make a nice change, Sare, but tell me what's wrong? Something's up, isn't it?"

She shook her head and burst into tears.

"Sarah? Talk to me."

"It's been two of them now. I was calculating and…"

She trailed off, but Danny suddenly understood, both what she meant and why she was reluctant to bring it up. Pulling her to her feet, to the dismay of Molly-Spratt who tumbled out of his lap, he drew her into his arms and kissed her passionately. When they pulled apart, which was only due to an interruption as King suddenly decided it was playtime, Danny grinned at her. "Happy Birthday, Sarah."

"Thanks," she whispered, wiping tears away with the back of her hand. "I felt bad bringing it up."

"I know," he nodded understandingly, "But it hits home hard that we aren't _at _home on the special days, doesn't it?"

She nodded and Danny grinned at her, "Don't worry, Sare. We'll be home before your next birthday."

"We don't know that."

"Keep believing it though, Sarah. We have to. We're not going to give up like everyone else here seems to have. We've been gone how long now?"

"One year and seven months."

Danny frowned, "Seven months? That's how long it's been since we've had any anomalies?"

She nodded, "I know, and I don't like it one bit, Danny. We need to move."

Danny let out a sigh of relief. "I've been thinking the same actually. I wasn't sure what you'd say to that. I don't think anymore are going to open within the detector's range here."

But he was wrong, because even as he spoke the devise suddenly whirled into action.

Sarah and Danny both jumped around to stare at it where it lay on the ground in their tent.

"Oh _sure!" _Danny laughed, "It waits until I'm on a nice dinner date with a beautiful woman on her birthday and then tries to make me look like a liar in front of her."

Sarah giggled, "That was pretty strange timing already, but Danny, where is it?"

He knew what she was really asking. What they were both afraid to voice aloud. He picked up the detector and shook his head. "Sorry, Sare. It's not close enough to be the one that goes home."

She pinched her eyes closed for a moment and then opened them again and nodded, "But anyway, we go through them all?"

"We go through them all," Danny agreed, not willing to repeat the mistake they'd made last time.

They packed up quickly and said their goodbyes. Danny appointed Marc to lead the rest of the group. No one felt like coming with them even to find it, but they said they would if Danny insisted.

"No point," he said. "Who knows what could come through. You're safer here."

Then he took Sarah's hand and yelled behind him, "C'mon Molly-Spratt! Here King! Time to go."

And so once again they were on their own.


	28. Up A Tree

Sarah let go of Danny's hand to slowly spin around and survey their new surroundings.

"Danny?" she questioned, "We _did _go through it, didn't we?"

Danny nodded mutely. She was right. The new surroundings didn't look _that _much different than where they'd been before. But different they were and it wasn't quite as warm here either.

"We'd best find somewhere safe for the night, Sarah. There'll be dinosaurs here, I warrant."

She nodded and slipped her hand back into his as they slowly started their walk away from the anomaly.

It was already nearly dark out here and the setting sun in front of them made the shadows long and it was hard to see where they were going. Suddenly Danny caught sight of something moving along with them a few paces off and he froze.

"Sarah, stop," he ordered.

She halted and noticed the towering movement beside them as well. She stepped closer to Danny and he squeezed his hand. Molly-Spratt seemed to sense it too as she pressed against their ankles, but King didn't look frightened as he darted around from tree to tree taking no notice. King's actions comforted Sarah a bit.

"What is that?" she hissed to him.

Danny shook his head. "I'm not sure yet. It's too far away and too deep in the shadows to tell, but it's big."

"King isn't scared," she pointed out. "Maybe an herbivore?"

"Hopefully."

Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be getting any closer nor paying them any attention, so eventually they relaxed and carried on. It wasn't until it suddenly changed it's path and moved forward across theirs that they found out what it was.

"Woolly Mammoth," Danny whistled, "Sarah, we could have more mammoth meat soon."

Sarah laughed, feeling a bit relieved that it was definitely a plant eater. "I suggest we leave it alone and it'll hopefully do the same," she returned. "C'mon, it's getting really dark and I want to find a place to stop."

Danny nodded and they continued. Finally he stopped.

"Sarah, I don't think we'll find anywhere tonight particularly safe tonight. I'm tired. It's too hard to see anything and we don't even have enough light to set up the tent. Let's just sleep here. We can set a watch tonight."

She nodded and sat down. "Yeah, alright. You sleep first Danny."

He glanced at her, "Are you sure?"

"You're the one who's said you're tired. I'm fine still."

Danny nodded and pulled out a blanket, plopping down onto it lying on his back. Then he planted his feet onto the ground and drew his knees up so that Sarah could lean back against the sides of them as she sat keeping watch.

It didn't take long for Danny to drift off and once he was asleep, Sarah began to get a bit nervous. She became more aware of the sounds of animals walking around and she wondered what all was out here. She looked off into the distance as best she could in the dark, trying to plan their escape route if they were attacked. In her hand she gripped the knife they had tightly.

The anomaly detector beside her suddenly lay silent, meaning the anomaly to Emily's world had closed again. She sighed and was tempted to close her eyes, not because she was tired, but so that she could imagine they were somewhere safer and not feel so frightened, but she knew that she'd be a very bad watchman indeed if she did that, so she opted to keep them open.

She watched the moon's pattern in the sky above her to determine how much time had passed, and when she started to get tired and decided it was somewhere around 1 or 2am, she woke Danny up to trade places with him, and promptly fell asleep herself, her hand clutching onto his.

* * *

><p>It wasn't Danny who woke her up in the wee hours of the morning. It was a horrible sounding animal screech. One she'd heard before. One that had haunted her dreams since her first encounter with it. She shot up from the ground and found Danny standing protectively in front of her, his knife in his hand.<p>

"Was that…" she started to ask.

"I think so," he responded. "Titanis. Terror Birds. We need to get out of here, fast."

Sarah started packing up as quick as she could, but Danny shook his hand. "Take only the weapons, Sarah. These things are fast and we can't be weighed down with anything unnecessary.

"But…" she started to protest as she looked down at all their blankets and clothing and items that she knew would be extremely useful, but then she realised he was right. They'd be of no use whatsoever if the Terror Birds caught them, and a tent wasn't likely to keep them out. She grabbed the stun grenades, rope, her comb and her camel statue the water bottle and stuffed them into her coat pockets and kept a grip on her own knife.

Danny nodded his approval and grabbed the anomaly detector and they walked quickly but quietly in the opposite direction from the bird's distress call they had just heard. Soon enough another one came, this one to the left of them, and closer. Sarah felt like crying. She hated those birds as much as she hated insects. She felt Danny reach for her hand. Molly-Spratt and King both were staying close and looking anxious as well.

"They're going to kill us, aren't they, Danny?" Sarah whimpered.

"No, course not," he replied, but she heard the uncertainty in his own voice as well. He continued on, "We know how to fight them, Sarah. We beat them before, we can do it again."

"We had better weapons before."

Danny raised his eyebrows, "Sarah, we had hubcaps, records, wines and mines."

Sarah felt herself relaxing a bit as his teasing, "Well, okay, but the mines were pretty effective you have to admit."

"We've got knives and stun grenades this time. I think we're about as well off."

She nodded, feeling a bit reassured, but still not confident in their abilities to survive out here. After all, last time there had been a limited number of them. They were in the birds' world now, who knew how many were out there?

As they walked, they heard more and more of the bird calls. They sounded angry and Danny could only hope they were fighting amongst themselves and hadn't actually spotted Sarah and himself yet. The calls were getting closer and closer however and Danny knew it would only be a matter of time before they were seen. Suddenly he stopped.

"Sarah, we need to get up high. They can't fly. Let's climb a tree."

She nodded and they looked around until they found a good one. There were no branches close to the ground, but Danny managed to scamper up it as agile as a monkey and tie the rope to a higher branch to help Sarah and Molly-Spratt up too. The tree they'd chosen had a large canopy of leaves and thick branches near the top, which provided shelter from any aerial predators too, provided they hadn't made their nests in it, Danny mused. He hoisted the rope up after them so the birds couldn't peck their way through it and leaned against the branch.

"There's so many of them," Sarah commented, relaxing a bit now that she felt safe.

Danny nodded, "Yep. We didn't hear them last night. They must sleep at night. If we're going to find food or travel, we'll have to do it then."

"And yet I can't sleep now, I just slept all morning."

"Only half since you kept watch until late. You'll be tired in a bit. For now, we could play a game."

"What kind of a game?" She asked.

Danny shrugged and then looked around below them. "I spy with my little eye, something that is white."

Sarah followed his gaze and found it right away, "Big rock to the north?"

"Good, I got another. I spy…" he stopped and then swore under his breath. "Well, I spy the birds for one."

"Shhhh," Sarah whispered, "All we need is for them to find us here and camp out under the tree all night."

But feeling safe where she was, Molly-Spratt began barking at them and pretty soon about a dozen of them were all hoping around under the branches, screeching at them.

"Oh this is good," Danny commented. "I swear I'll feed that dog to them in a moment."

"You wouldn't," Sarah replied, knowing it was true. "How long do you think they'll keep this up?"

"I can't say," he said, breaking a twig off the tree and throwing it down at them.

"Danny, don't, you're making them angry."

"Because they were happy and calm before?"

She rolled her eyes, "Just… don't, okay? I'd feel better."

"Alright," he agreed for her sake. Then he reached for her hand. "Come, sit with me."

She looked nervous about moving, but she inched her way across the branch to his one. "Will it hold us both?"

"Sure. This thing is easily strong enough, Sare." She nodded and made her way over while gripping tightly to his hand. As soon as he could, Danny pulled her into his arms, her back resting against his chest. "You're okay, Sare," he comforted her. "They can't get us up here.

Below the birds were still hopping and squawking loudly as though they had all the time and energy in the world. Sarah leaned back further into Danny's embrace. "How long do we wait for?"

"Until they give up."

"What if they don't?"

"They will. Birds don't live forever you know."

Sarah chuckled, "Let's hope we don't have to wait _that _long. But what if more hear the racquet and join them."

Sure enough that seemed to be happening as the group at the base of the tree looked to be growing.

"You in a hurry?" Danny teased. "I have nowhere else to be."

Sarah sighed and glanced at Molly-Spratt who was looking quite unhappy as she stood yapping on the wide branch beside them where Danny had placed her. King had it the best, she decided. He could fly. She let out a little giggle and Danny looked at her curiously.

"What is it?"

"It's just seems ironic, don't you think? We're sitting here in a tree with a lizard who can fly and birds who can't."

Danny smiled too, "Yeah, I suppose that _is _rather strange."

Suddenly Sarah noticed something odd below her. She frowned for a moment and then looked at Danny. "Does that one have my Israeli robe on its head?"

Danny's gaze followed where she was pointing and he nodded, "I guess they found our camp from last night then. I'm thinking from now on we camp in trees. Especially if we're going to camp at day and travel by night to avoid them."

"I don't think I could sleep in a tree. I'd be scared of falling out."

Danny tightened his hold on her, "Try, Sare. Get some sleep now. I'll keep first watch and I'm not going to let you fall."

To Sarah's surprise, she found that she did actually feel quite safe in this position. She rested her head back on his shoulder and shut her eyes, "Maybe just a short nap then, so I have energy later."

She felt Danny kiss her forehead and heard him tell her that he loved her before she somehow dozed off, despite the squawking and barking all around her.

* * *

><p>She didn't sleep long, probably only about thirty minutes or so. When she did wake up she found the commotion below her still going on, but Molly-Spratt had finally stopped barking and was sleeping on the branch. She didn't see the bird with her robe over it's eyes anymore. Danny smiled and gave her a quick kiss when he noticed her eyes open.<p>

"See, you can sleep in a tree after all."

"Only since I trust you," she responded. Then suddenly she noticed he was eating something. "Danny, where'd you get food?"

He grinned and offered her a small vine of berries that looked a bit like grapes. "These things grow a few trees over."

Sarah took one and popped it into her mouth. They didn't taste like grapes, more like cherries. "How on _earth _did you manage to get them?"

"I didn't. You won't believe it, but apparently King delivers."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. He dropped three of them on my lap about five minutes ago. Smart lizard."

"Where is he now?" Sarah asked, looking around.

Danny shrugged, "Hopefully off designing a helicopter or something useful like that."

"I wouldn't bet the farm."

Danny laughed, "Well hey, one can only hope, eh?"

She nodded and then looked back to the birds. "There might be a few less of them now." She noted.

Danny looked down and scanned them, "Considerably. Some got bored I guess. There was over thirty at one point when you were asleep. I tried to count but they wouldn't hold still for me."

Sarah guessed there was only about eleven now, but she didn't bother to count either as she pressed her back against Danny again. "How are you, Danny?" she asked him. "Tired?"

Danny nodded, "A bit."

"Can you get some rest?"

"Doubtful. The trunk I'm leaning on isn't all that comfortable actually."

"Maybe we can get a better position for you."

"It's fine, Sare, for now, but I could use another kiss."

Sarah chuckled as she obliged, kissing him tenderly. When they finally pulled apart for air, Sarah smiled at him. "I'll never get tired of that, you know, kissing you."

"Good," Danny replied, leaning forward for another one, but they were interrupted as the anomaly detector whirled into life again. Sarah and Danny glanced at each other.

"It's not far," Danny told her as he looked at it. "Quarter mile west, maybe."

"That's as good as a hundred miles while we're stuck up this tree," Sarah responded.

"You're right. Play times over. Pass me the stun grenades."

Sarah looked at him surprised, "Right, I didn't think of those. Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Didn't want to waste them so soon," Danny replied as she pulled one from her pocket and handed it to him. "Plug your ears and open your mouth."

Sarah did as she was told and a moment later an explosion that almost knocked her from the tree sounded below them. Molly let out a loud bark at her interrupted sleep, but looked okay otherwise.

Danny extracted himself from the branch they were in and quickly climbed a few lower, reaching for Sarah as he did so. He helped her down and then made a second trip for the dog and whistled to King who came seemingly out of nowhere.

Sarah glanced at the Terror Birds lying unconscious at their feet and shuddered. "We'd better go quickly and quietly," she noted. "There's probably more round."

Danny nodded and took her hand as they made a dash for the glowing ball of light.


	29. Homecoming

Sarah and Danny stopped short when they came in sight of the anomaly. A Terror bird stood in front of it paying no attention to either of them; it kept darting back and forth through the magnetic porthole and looking as though it were fighting with something on the other side.

"I don't like the idea that something there is defending itself so well against this bird," Danny voiced both their thoughts. "What the hell could that be?"

Whatever it was, it seemed content to actually stay on the other side of the anomaly and the bird was seemingly occupied, so they turned their thoughts to getting through.

"Maybe have that last stun grenade ready to go," Danny told Sarah. "There's only one bird, I think with the two of us and the knives and the bird's being preoccupied, we can take it."

"Provided we do something fast," Sarah responded, "Before more…" She trailed off suddenly as something else caught her eye.

Danny followed her gaze and stood in horror as he noticed for the first time the gruesomely ripped apart body of what appeared to have been a human teenager only a short time before. Then he quickly stepped between Sarah and the view, pulling her against him, "Don't look at it, Sare. We can't do anything for him now."

She nodded, shakily. "How did he get so far out here?"

Danny's eyes widened, "The anomaly of course. He'd barely made it through! Sarah, there might be humans on that side! That's what has the bird so mad."

Sarah looked up at him and smiled, "Don't get my hopes up, Danny. He could have travelled through twenty of them to get here."

"Still, we gotta give it a try. Look at his clothes, he's from our time. Let's go quickly before someone locks this thing again."

For a moment their hearts dropped and they thought they were too late as the anomaly suddenly locked in place.

"So it _does_ go home," Sarah whispered, tears filling her eyes at the thought of missing another one.

But then it suddenly shot back open. Danny grabbed her hand and they began to run towards it, when it locked again.

"What the hell are they playing at?" Danny wondered. But he didn't have much time to think about it as the bird came flying at them suddenly instead. With the anomaly locked, they had no where to run to escape. Danny let go of Sarah's hand and took up a stance to fight. Before them the anomaly re-opened.

"Run for it, Sare!" He told her firmly, but she shook her head, standing at his side as the bird bear down upon them.

Her attention, however, was on the anomaly that kept locking and re-opening every few moments.

"Do you think they are testing the mechanism?" she asked as Danny suddenly shoved her to the side and made a slash at the bird's half-developed wing.

The manoeuvre did nothing except anger it further. "Stun grenade, Sare," Danny ordered. "We won't need it through there and we have to do something fast before they lock it permanently.

Sarah nodded and pulled the pin on it, dropping it at the bird's feet and then jumping out of the way herself, followed closely by Danny. The grenade went off, stunning the bird, but Danny noticed that it hadn't been quite within range and, while it was down for the moment, it wasn't entirely unconscious.

"It'll be up in a second," he shouted to Sarah, even though she was standing right next to him. "Run for the anomaly."

They both ran then, their pets following close behind. Just as the reached the anomaly it reopened for them and a moment later they found themselves enclosed in the large ball of light. For a split second, Sarah thought she caught a strange glimpse of a horse pulling a black buggy upon a cobblestone street amidst the refractions of magnetic light before she found herself stumbling out into a small bare room.

Danny didn't notice the strange horse that didn't seem to fit with the surroundings that they'd come out into. The moment he stepped through he heard something like a loud gunshot and felt a sharp pain in his chest. He stumbled forward in darkness before passing out onto the concrete floor.

* * *

><p>They were home. That was the only thing that Sarah noticed as she burst into tears, not so much of joy even as of overwhelming relief and exhaustion. She wouldn't have recognized it as being home if it wasn't for the people in the room. The first face she looked into was that of Connor Temple and with a great joy she realised he'd made it back too.<p>

"Sarah!" he cried, his arms enfolding her into a hug as she felt her knees go weak. She collapsed against him in relief, allowing him to hold her up. There were other people in the room, chattering excitedly, but she was too overwhelmed to even look at them yet. She clung sobbing to Connor and for the moment, this was enough. In that moment, she suddenly realised that Danny wasn't with her embracing their friend. She wiped her tears and looked around at him, and found him lying on the ground unconscious being helped by Becker and Abby who were scolding another man she didn't recognize. The man stood back with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Danny!" Sarah cried, pulling herself free of Connor's grip and going to his side, "What's wrong with him? What happened?"

"Matt shot him," Abby glared at the man Sarah didn't know.

Sarah's face must have expressed her horror, and Becker quickly intervened, coming over to give his long lost friend a hug too. "It's fine, Sarah, it was a toy gun. He'll be alright in a moment."

"I can't believe you shot him," Connor said, glaring at the man who seemed to be named Matt. "They've been gone over a year and you just… pop!"

"Sorry," Matt apologized.

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as none of the others seemed overly concerned about Danny's condition. They weren't calling for medics, and that was a good sign.

Abby had been holding onto Danny's wrist, monitoring his pulse and she looked up at Sarah and smiled. "It is _so _good to see you!"

Sarah's eyes met hers and she smiled back, "And you. We weren't sure if you'd gotten home or not."

"Took us a year, but we did."

"Your hair looks great. It's so long."

Abby chuckled, "Not compared to yours, it's not."

"I've always had long hair," Sarah replied, but she suddenly realised just how long it was now, falling almost to her hips. "But I could do with a cut," she added on.

Abby laughed, "Fine, we'll skip the meals and bed and take you straight to the hair dressers."

"Screw that idea," but it wasn't Sarah who spoke, it was Danny. Sarah threw her arms around him.

"Danny, you're awake! And we're home!"

Danny hugged her back, kissing her cheek. "We did it, Sare."

"We did," she agreed.

The others quickly bombarded them with questions and hugs. Abby suddenly caught sight of something in the corner of the room. "Rex?" she questioned, turning on Connor. "What's he doing here?"

"Don't look at me," Connor protested.

Sarah smiled. "King," she corrected. "He's been following us a good year and a half. Think Rex could use a playmate?"

Abby had already scooped the lizard up into her arms with a broad grin, and Sarah took that to mean she was agreeing, but they were interrupted suddenly by that dreaded bird call. Matt put his gun to better use this time, aiming at the creature and it stumbled backwards as Connor jumped onto the locking mechanism and sealed it again.

"Why do you keep reopening it?" Danny asked, puzzled.

"We don't. There's something really, really weird with this anomaly."

"It _was_ weird," Sarah spoke up suddenly, remembering. "It went to two places. There was a horse inside and…" the others stared at her, but they were interrupted by Molly-Spratt who suddenly started growling and barking. The others looked around, noticing the dog for the first time.

"What's she mad at?" Connor asked, approaching the small white dog. "What's wrong, Girl?"

"Jess," Becker asked suddenly, "We've got an angry dog here. Can you run a scan for more anomalies again? She could be sensing something."

Sarah and Danny exchanged puzzled looks before Danny asked, "Who's he talking to?"

Connor grinned at them, "Oh we're _way_ high-tech now at the ARC. We've got this brill field co-ordinator and these little gadgets we wear so we can always hear her in our heads. She's kinda like our conscience."

He pulled something from his ear and held it against Danny's just in time for Danny to hear a female voice say, "Thanks Connor… I think."

"Uh… hello?" Danny said, wondering if she could hear him like he could hear her.

"Welcome home, Danny," the voice came again instantly.

"Thanks," he responded.

"Jess, the scan," Matt reminded her.

"Right, sorry Matt. There's nothing else."

Danny handed the ear piece back to Connor who grinned at him, "See, that's Jess. She's nice. We all like her, but especially Becker. He _really _likes her. He's probably even got chocolate for her in his shirt pocket right now."

Becker glared at Connor and then spoke into his ear piece "Sorry, Jess, Connor doesn't know when to shut his trap... It's caramel, but don't go thinking about that now, we need you focused on the job."

Molly-Spratt was still barking as though she sensed danger, and then they all heard something close by. "It's Ethan!" Matt said quickly.

_"Ethan!_" Danny and Sarah exchanged a look, suddenly remembering that Danny's brother had made it through to this time earlier.

"Abby, you get these two back to the ARC," Matt commanded. "Becker, help me look for Ethan. Connor, you stay here and try to get this thing locked."

Danny stood up though, "Ethan who?"

"We'll explain later," Abby replied, "We're actually a bit busy at the moment. C'mon, let's get you two cleaned up."

She started leading them out, but Danny held her back. "Abby listen, tell me about this Ethan guy. We ran into an Ethan out there and he made his way back into this time, we think. He was with two women, Charlotte and Emily."

Abby halted in her tracks, "Tell me everything."

**A/N: Almost Done! The next chapter will be the final one... **


	30. The End

**A/N Here it is! The Final Chapter! And it's at least twice as long as any of my other chapters ROFL. This story is dedicated to musicgirl97 and TheSingingPterodactyl for their amazing reviews and also Hilary Parker for coming up with the story title for me back when I first posted it. **

**1 million imaginary bonus points to anyone who guesses the significance or the room numbers that Lester assigns them to.**

Danny started walking again, opening his mouth to speak as they went, but when they turned the corner, he found Patrick (Ethan?) staring into the dangerous end of Matt's stun gun.

"Oi! Matt!" Danny called out. "Wasn't it enough you shot me? Now you're after me brother as well?"

"_Brother!?" _Abby asked incredulously as Matt lowered his gun in surprise.

Ethan whirled around and faced Danny with a smile that Sarah did not like the looks of in the least.

"Danny, so you came after me again at last," He said sarcastically. "And Sarah, it's good to see you too."

"Where's Charlotte? Where's Emily?" Sarah demanded.

Ethan shot her a glare. "Dead," he replied. "Charlotte didn't make it, and it's All. Your. Fault." He stepped toward her, raising a gun and Danny immediately stepped between them.

"Patrick, put that down _now._ You know Sarah wasn't to blame."

"I was," he heard Sarah choke out behind him, and he longed to comfort her, knowing that she was indeed blaming herself.

"Oh but it was," Ethan continued, "Hers, and yours, and Emily's. Emily I've already killed. Seems I have my chance for revenge on the two of you now as well."

Danny heard Sarah gasp with horror over the thought that both the girls were dead, but Abby also saw their reaction and moved closer to them whispering for their ears alone, "Emily's not dead. Matt saved her, but Ethan doesn't know it."

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, but Danny was too focused on his brother's coldness. Emily had been right then; there was something seriously wrong with Patrick. Oh, he'd known it all along, but hearing him brag about killing Emily, hearing him threaten Sarah… "What happened to you, Patrick?" he asked sadly. "You need help. You can get it here."

Ethan released the safety on the gun, but Matt was on him instantly at the action, pulling the trigger on his EMD and knocking Ethan to the ground. "Sorry, Danny, but _his _gun has bullets."

Danny nodded stepping toward his brother's unconscious body to disarm him. "I know. I've seen what he can do and we can't take any chances with him. Emily and Charlotte, they warned me. I tried to talk to him back there on the other side of the anomaly but he doesn't get it. He needs to be locked away, permanently, as he's a danger to others, but I can't bear to lose him for a third time. He's made me choose between himself and Sarah, and I choose her. Please just… take him away. I don't want to see him anymore. It's too hard, but do get him some counseling and treat him gently."

Matt nodded and called Becker to join them. Danny turned away as they handcuffed Patrick and made arrangements to return him to the ARC. Danny felt Sarah take his hand in a gesture of comfort and he quickly pulled her to himself, kissing her ear in hopes that her hair would hide his suddenly watering eyes from everyone but her. He knew they'd understand, but he didn't want them to see.

Matt was giving orders to the others. He said that he'd take Sarah and Danny back himself now that Ethan had been found. He wanted Abby to stay with Connor and Becker to back them up in case more birds came through. Danny barely heard the orders though. He had too many thoughts, too many emotions, about too many different topics at the moment, so he pushed them all out of his head for the moment to deal with them one at a time later on and focused solely on the comfort Sarah was giving him.

* * *

><p>"It's peculiar," Danny whispered to Sarah as they sat alone in Lester's office, "How an hour of questions and reunions can be so much more exhausting than running from terror birds for half a day."<p>

"I think the adrenaline in the Terror Bird scenario has something to do with that," she chuckled.

They'd been thoroughly questioned by both Matt and Lester, as well as a third person named Phillip, by now, and they'd also been very warmly greeted by the young girl behind the voice they'd heard in the ear pieces earlier. Jess informed them that she knew them well since she'd read their files and greeted them as long lost friends. Sarah and Danny responded equally warmly whilst pretending they _didn't_ think that was slightly weird for the sake of the girl who really did seem friendly enough.

The door started to crack open again and Danny groaned, dreading another interview. However this time he recognized the face that peered around the corner as a dear friend. "Emily!" he grinned.

Sarah turned around and when she saw the dark-haired woman before them, she jumped from her seat to give her a hug. Emily looked at them both in surprise. "You two aren't mad at me?"

Danny frowned, "Should we be?"

"Well I didn't exactly hold that anomaly open for you, did I? And I've done a pretty bad job at controlling your brother too."

"Patrick can't be controlled," Danny spoke bluntly. "It's not my fault, nor yours, no matter how hard it is to accept. And I was the one who made the decision not to follow you through that anomaly. What did happen though, might I ask, when you got through to this side?"

"Charlotte was too sick," Emily said, moving around the desk to sit across from them in Lester's chair. "We ended up in a theatre and she died before we even got out of it. Ethan got mad and when the ARC team showed up, he hid somewhere. I didn't see where. I didn't know that they were from the ARC at that point and I tried to get back through the anomaly to you, but this guy, Matt, actually who you've met now, he followed me and dragged me back. He didn't mean any harm by it, he's a good guy, you know, and he says to tell you he's really sorry for shooting you, Danny. Anyway, we were attacked by a tree creeper and Matt saved me, I suppose, as the next thing I knew I was waking up in a hospital and he was there. At that point my mind was solely on finding Ethan. It wasn't until much later, after the anomaly had closed, that I put two and two together and realised that this might be _your _time, but it was too late to do anything just then. I never did tell them I'd seen you. I suppose I should've but I was worried they'd blame themselves for locking the anomaly and even more worried they'd be angry with me for not speaking up sooner. If there was any way to go back for you of course I'd have brought it up, but there wasn't so…"

"It's okay, Emily," Sarah forgave her instantly. "I'd have died out there if it weren't for you and especially Charlotte. You did your best."

Emily nodded, looking relieved. "I've told them now of course. I told Matt the whole thing while Lester was questioning you."

"Speaking of Matt," Danny asked. "How do Sarah and I fit in with the new team? I'm assuming that Matt has taken my job now."

Emily glanced at her hands a bit awkwardly and then shrugged, "Yes, he has, and I don't know actually. He's worried, you know, that you coming back will mean a loss to his job and, no offense, but we can't afford to lose him. I can't say more than that."

"So you're suggesting that Danny step down?" Sarah asked, suddenly angrily.

Emily shook her head quickly, "No! Not - not completely."

Sarah was glaring at Emily and Danny tried hard not to smile about the fact that she was being so defensive of him as he reached for her arm, "Sare, let's not worry about this until tomorrow, yeah? It might not be a bad idea for us to take some time off. I want to see my parents again and travel up north to see Lisa and then find a place for us to live and maybe get that dog I was talking about."

Sarah relaxed and looked at Emily. "Sorry," she apologized a bit sheepishly. "I shouldn't get so worked up before anything's official anyway. To be honest, everything's a little overwhelming right now and I don't think I even _want _Danny or myself going on any missions straight away. We need time. Is there any chance we can get some food and a place to sleep now?"

Emily smiled at her, "Do not worry, I understand. I'm sure everything will work itself out eventually. And Lester's working on the food and lodging as we speak." She stood up and gave them each a quick hug, "I will go bully him into hurrying up the process."

As soon as they were alone again, Danny leaned over and gave Sarah a quick kiss on the lips. "Thanks," he told her earnestly, "For sticking up for me."

She smiled and went to respond, but they were interrupted as Lester stepped into the room, followed closely by Abby and Connor who were carrying large plates of Chinese food.

Sarah and Danny exchanged grins as Danny spoke up, "That sure the hell better be for us."

Connor chuckled and nodded as he put a plate down in front of him while Abby handed one to Sarah.

Lester sat down across from them and nodded to the food, "Dig in then. When you're done I'll take you over to the company apartments and in the morning we can discuss your pay for while you were gone and your position with the company and all that jazz." He handed each of them a key to each of them. "Sarah, I've given you room 310 and Danny you're in 407."

Before either of them could react, Abby shook her head vehemently, snatching a key out of Sarah's hand and handing it back. "They'll want to share a room," she said pointedly to Lester before glancing understandingly at the couple who stared at her in surprise. She continued, "And have one of Becker's men stand guard outside the room will you, so they can get a good night's sleep without worrying about setting a watch."

"And make sure they have a CD player," Connor added. "I've just burned them a CD full of nature and wildlife sounds."

Danny and Sarah smiled gratefully at their friends, but all Danny replied was, "I sure hope you didn't include any Terror Birds on that CD."

Connor laughed, "Don't worry, herbivores only."

* * *

><p>The next two days went by like a whirlwind for Sarah and Danny. The stream of questions were never ending and other than at night when they excused themselves to the company apartment, they found it hard to really just be alone together. And despite all of the reunions, they'd suddenly found themselves having to say another goodbye as well when Emily had made the decision to go back through the anomaly after learning that Sarah's horse and buggy had been her own time in the Victorian age.<p>

When they _did _retire for the nights, they were too exhausted to really talk and just curled up together in bed, holding onto one another but not discussing anything. When Danny woke up on their third day back, he found Sarah sitting on the edge of the bed combing her hair with the comb he'd made her, tears streaming down her face. Immediately he moved to her side and gave her a hug before taking over the job of fixing her hair.

"It's too much," she whispered. "I almost want to go back if it's going to be like this. Phillip wants to talk to us _again _in a couple of hours and I just want to find our own place and get settled in."

Danny nodded, but remained silent until her hair was tangle-free. Then he put the comb down and stood in front of her, taking both her hands in his. "You're right, Sare. And to be honest, I don't like this Phillip guy. Maybe it's all the meetings, maybe not, but I just get a bad feeling about him."

"Me too," she admitted.

"Well we're both usually right, aren't we? Let's skip this interview. Let's skip everything for today and get done some things that _we _want to do. There's a couple of places I think we need to go. We'll sneak out now and if anyone asks, we're grabbing some breakfast and coming back. They won't question it."

Sarah smiled and nodded, pulling one of her hands from his to wipe her tears with the back of it. "That sounds brilliant," she agreed and she got up to go get changed into a dark green sundress that Jess had dropped off for her the night before.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Danny buried his face into Molly-Spratt's fur to say goodbye while Sarah knocked on the door of a young Taylor Craig's complex. They'd had Molly-Spratt in their care for almost two years now, and Taylor hadn't seen her dog for three, but he knew that she was the rightful owner, and she'd been a good one. Besides, they'd promised each other, Sarah and Danny, they'd return the dog when they got back. It by no means meant he wasn't going to miss the little fur ball.<p>

The door opened and a man looked out at them, "If you're selling something, I don't want it." He said.

"No, no!" Sarah said quickly, "We're here to see Taylor. Is she home?"

The man shrugged and turned back inside, shouting, "Taylor! People here for you."

"Thanks, Dad!" she yelled back, "Be there in a minute."

The man grinned at Sarah and Danny, "Never get tired of hearing that. You know I've been her stepfather since she was nine and it's only this year as she started calling me Dad instead of Steve."

"And I'll stop again if you keep getting all mushy about it everytime," came the voice of the fourteen-year-old as she stepped around from behind him, rolling her eyes.

Steve let out a chuckle as he excused himself, leaving Taylor to attend to her guests. "Who are you?" she asked.

"We're travellers through time who spent the last two years overcoming all sorts of obstacles and fighting off all sorts of creatures to bring you your dog," Sarah teased with a grin.

Taylor looked puzzled for a moment, but then she caught sight of Molly-Spratt and Sarah had to cover her ears as the girl squealed, "_Spratt!_"

Spratt squirmed in Danny's arms and gave out a playful bark as Danny reluctantly handed the dog over. Taylor buried her face into the dog's fur just as Danny had done earlier. After a bit, she looked up with a grin. "So, I take it you guys work with Nick and Stephen then?"

Danny froze, unsure how to tell the young teenager that they'd both passed away, but Taylor saw the look on his face and figured it out on her own. "Oh, right," she mumbled, looking at Spratt to try and hide her tears. "I guess it's pretty dangerous job, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," Danny replied gently.

Taylor nodded, "Right, well anyway, did Nick tell you that he promised I could work with you when I finish school? I still want to. It's pretty exciting what you do and all. I've been learning martial arts and sword fighting as well as studying up on historic eras and animals. My friends think I'm insane, but I'll be ready."

Danny chuckled, "Yeah, you'd be good at it, but you'll have to add military training to your list, yeah. New rule, or so I'm told."

"Got it," Taylor nodded. "I'll join the army or something right out of high school and get a bit o' training in. See you guys in a few years then?"

"See ya," Sarah promised.

"Thanks again, for rescuing the dog," Taylor grinned. "I dunno what I'll tell Dad since he thinks Spratt's dead and all…"

"You'll figure it out," Danny smiled. "Consider it good practice for the PR portion of the job. Take care of her now, will ya? Don't be letting her run through any more anomalies."

"Got it," Taylor replied.

Danny and Sarah turned to leave, but as they did, Danny called back over his shoulder, "Oh, and Taylor, just a heads up that your dog might answer to Molly now too!"

* * *

><p>"Maybe we should just give someone a quick call," Sarah suggested as they climbed back into the car.<p>

"Why? Then they'll just get on our case to come back into the ARC."

"I think they'll understand. Anyway, we won't. I'm just concerned that they might start worrying about us."

Danny shrugged, "Call if you must then."

"I'll just let Abby know," Sarah decided, switching on her mobile. She glanced at it and then grinned. "See, I told you, they'd be worried. I've got thirty-one new messages, and I've bet you've got as many." She didn't bother to listen to them though as she rang Abby.

"Don't tell them where we're going," Danny hissed at her as the phone rang. "Just that we're fine and not coming in."

Sarah nodded at him in agreement.

* * *

><p>"I don't know what to say," Sarah whispered to Danny as she clutched his hand another hour later. "How do I even <em>begin <em>to thank her, to apologize, to say goodbye?"

"Don't," Danny whispered back as he placed the bouquet of flowers he was holding on the ground beside Charlotte Cameron's tomb. "You can't, Sare. And you don't need to apologize. You aren't to blame for her death."

"But she died so I could live," Sarah whispered, not bothering to wipe the tear that fell from her eyes. "I feel like I should say _something_ to her."

"And me," Danny agreed. Then, noticing the question in Sarah's eyes as she turned to him, he continued. "If it wasn't for the fact that I knew she was caring for you, I would have, Sare. I might not have known what I was doing, but I'd have done my best and I'd have got the smallpox too."

"Not necessarily…"

"There's a pretty good chance though, isn't there?" He let his own tears fall too, too grateful to Charlotte for saving Sarah to be ashamed of his emotion. "We both owe her everything," he said, "But it's too late to repay her. I suggest we live life to the fullest so we don't waste what she died to save."

Sarah nodded and then edged closer to Danny so she could rest her head against his arm as they stood. "I wish I'd known her better," Sarah said. "Even your brother knew how special she was."

Danny nodded, "I just wish he knew that _we _aren't so bad either."

Sarah squeezed his hand a bit tighter, "He might get better yet, Danny. He might. Lester will get him the best help. You'll see."

Danny nodded and pulled her hand up to kiss the back of it. "C'mon, Sare. We should go get something to eat."

She nodded and placed her own bouquet of flowers beside Danny's. "Thanks Charlotte," she whispered, "for everything."

"Rest in peace," Danny added. Then they both wiped their tears and slowly walked back to their car.

* * *

><p>"I feel so… <em>rich,<em>" Sarah said with a laugh as she pulled some money out of her wallet to pay for their hot dogs at the park vendor. Lester had been unable to get their bank accounts and documents updated yet to say that they were, indeed, alive, so he'd paid each of them out two years worth of wages in cash.

Danny chuckled and held the hot dogs for her as she sorted the change back into its proper place, before handing one of them back to her. "No kidding, eh? Mind you, money aside I think I feel rich just in the fact that we're buying a lunch instead of hunting for it."

"So true," Sarah agreed. "The baths, hair cuts, and clean clothing really feel luxurious, don't they? Still, I can guarantee I've _never _had this much cash on me before in my life. I almost feel nervous about it, so I do rather hope that Lester gets our identities sorted soon and we can get it into a bank."

"Yep," Danny replied, taking her hand. They strolled through the park while they ate, talking and joking about little things and acting as though they had never left home. It felt right. Sarah thought it was the first time since they were back that she'd even really had the chance to just relax and enjoy herself and grow accustomed to London as their home again.

When their hot dogs were done they tossed the paper wrappers and Danny changed his hand position so that his fingers were interlocked with hers, staring at their joined fingers as he did. Suddenly he frowned, "You're missing something."

"What?" Sarah replied, asking more what he was talking about that what she was missing.

"C'mon," Danny said, giving her hand a tug. "I saw a jeweller's away back south. I wanna get you a proper engagement ring."

Sarah's eyes lit up, "Really? Now?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah, why not? We've both agreed ages ago we want to marry one day. We should make it official, don't you think?"

"I'd like that," she replied, reaching up to give him a quick peck on the lips.

* * *

><p>They spent the next hour and a half trying on different rings. There were a few shops and Danny wanted Sarah to try them all to make sure they got the right one. They finally found one that she fell completely in love with: a thin golden band engraved with leaves and three flowers made from garnets with diamond centres going across the front. Danny purchased it as the cashier congratulated them and asked if she wanted to wear it out of the store.<p>

Sarah reached for it, but Danny shook his head and took it before she could. "No, let's go somewhere nice and I'll give you a proper proposal," he said.

Sarah giggled a bit as they left the store, "It's a bit late for that, don't you think?"

Danny shrugged sheepishly, "I'll admit I went about this whole thing backwards in the past, but it doesn't mean I can't do the proper steps, even if they aren't in order."

Sarah smiled and took his hand again, "Alright then, but I don't want to wait forever, so if you're gonna propose, you'd best do so now. Where're we gonna go for this?"

Danny glanced back at the park, but it was a bit too crowded for his liking. He shrugged, "C'mon, let's just walk until we find somewhere, okay?"

Sarah nodded and they carried on until they came to another much smaller and more private park. They glanced at each other and Danny smiled, "Here?"

"Anywhere," she answered, thinking it cute that he looked so nervous, despite the fact that he must know she was going to say yes.

Danny guided her to sit down on a low brick wall that was encircling a flower patch. Then he fiddled nervously with the ring as he sat beside her, "Sarah Page," he whispered. "I am _so _in love with you, and I always will be. If I was perfectly honest, I'd say I loved you even before we got stuck in the past." He dropped down on one knee in front of the wall as he slipped the ring on her hand, "Will you marry me?"

Sarah nodded, surprised to find herself crying once again as she pulled him back up to kiss her. "Of course I will, Danny," she replied when they pulled apart. "Of course I will."

They stayed there for a long time in silence, just cuddling and kissing, but after awhile, Sarah suddenly asked, "So when was it?"

"When was what?"

"You said you loved me before we went through that anomaly. When did you fall for me?"

Danny pondered for a moment, considering, and then grinned at her, "I guess the first time I really _realised_ it and let it sink in was the moment you showed up and stopped Sir William from chopping my head off with a sword. But I _also_ realised at that moment that I'd loved you for awhile already, I'd just been too busy to pay attention. What about you?"

Sarah laughed, "Oh, I knew the moment I fell for you. It was when you grinned at me and told me to trust you because you had an honest face."

Danny laughed and flashed the same cheeky grin at her as he had then, "Wow, I didn't realise how great a line that really was. In fact, at the time I was surprised it had worked enough you let me wander off on my own."

Sarah chuckled, "Well I've trusted you ever since."

* * *

><p>They went out somewhere posh for dinner that evening. They'd decided that their engagement was means to celebrate. They ordered some champagne as they talked about the near future and what their plans were.<p>

"I definitely want to go see my family," Danny told her. "I'm thinking we could do a couple more of these silly meetings with Phillip and all tomorrow morning, and then request some time off. We could go tomorrow afternoon to visit my parents and then head up north to see Lisa for a week or so."

Sarah nodded, "Sounds good to me, though I'd rather skip the meetings myself."

"Well, I would too, but I guess we should go anyway. I'd like to find out more about this Phillip character myself before I decide to trust him."

"Yeah," Sarah agreed. "His face isn't_ nearly_ as honest as yours."

Danny laughed, but then turned serious again a moment later, "How much time are we going to request off?"

"Six months at least. I'd like to find us a proper house to live in, and of course, we want to get married."

"I was thinking we could do that while we were up north. A private wedding, just me and you, and maybe immediate family…" Danny suggested, sounding both nervous and hopeful.

"That's _really_ fast," Sarah commented, "but I do like that idea, a lot."

"So we're agreed?"

Sarah nodded and leaned across the table to kiss him. "Agreed."

Danny smiled at her, "And then, we can get a dog?"

Sarah smiled back. "We can get a dog," she promised.

* * *

><p>Sarah smiled as she woke up the next morning, feeling genuinely happy, much unlike the day before when she'd awoke. This time Danny was up before her, and she watched in silence for a little while as he fiddled on a laptop that Connor had loaned them.<p>

"This thing is amazing," Danny said, glancing at her when he sensed that she was awake. "You can look up so many things on here."

"_Danny,_ it's the internet. It's been around for a long time, not exactly new technology here."

"I know," Danny smiled as Sarah climbed out from under the covers and came to sit cross-legged on the edge of the bed beside him, "but I've rather missed technology. Think of how helpful it would've been in the past where we could have just typed in something like 'What creatures live in the Permian era?' Anyway, I'm learning all sorts of amazing stuff today. Did you know that currency in Ethiopia is called the birr?"

Sarah raised her eyebrows, "I had no idea."

"Or that Green Lake in Austria is a park for half the year and a lake for the other half?"

Sarah sighed, "So useful…"

"Or get this one," Danny said with a grin, "You'll really love this fact. Did you know that volleyball was invented by early Israelites?"

Sarah swatted at him, "Get out, it does _not _say that."

"I swear it does," Danny said with a laugh, turning the screen to her. "Historians have found engravings that depict early volleyball tournaments played amongst Israelites and also early Egyptians. In Egypt it was a game played by men of high position, but in Israel where it originated, men, woman and children alike often partook in the game."

Sarah burst out laughing. "I don't believe it," she said, reading the article along with him. "That is_ way_ too funny!"

Danny nodded and shut the lid of the laptop closed, putting it aside. "Yep, I've been waiting to show you that all morning. We made history, Sare."

"We sure did," she replied, glancing at the camel statue on her nightstand. "I'm glad we're home, but now that we're safe and sound and can look back on it, it was truly a great adventure. I've never regretted stepping through that first anomaly with you."

Danny smiled and reached for hand, playing with the ring he'd bought her. "Ready for the next adventure then?"

"I am," Sarah responded earnestly just before they kissed.

**The End. **


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